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THE 



Thermostatic Incubator, 



ITS CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT, 



TOGETHER WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF 



BROODERS, NURSERIES, 

And the Mode of Raising Chickens by Hand. 



y/ BY 

E. S. RENWICK, 

MECHANICAL ENGINEER AND EXPERT. 
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 







NEW YORK: 

BURR PRINTING HOUSE. 

1883. 



SF4 
1^4 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by 

E. S. RENWICK, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. 






CONTENTS. 

PAAE 

Introduction, ....... 5 

Construction of tke Incubator, ... 30 

Preparations for Work, .... 49 

Management of the Incubator, . . -54 

The Chicken Nursery, ..... 69 

The Hatching Season, ..... 88 

Claims of Patents, ..... 93 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Thermostatic Incubator furnishes an efficient 
and reliable means of hatching chickens artificially. 
It is the result of numerous experiments, and as its 
principal features have been thoroughly tested for 
seven seasons, and it has been successfully used in 
its present form for two, it is confidently offered for 
public use. It is adapted to hatch ducks* eggs, as 
well as those of chickens, the author having hatched 
with it an average of 250 chickens and 40 ducks an- 
nually ; which is as large a number as his family can 
dispose of. Partridge eggs have also been hatched 
in it, with perfect success. 

As the experience of the author may be of service 
to others working in the same field, and a statement 
of it will enable the construction of the apparatus to 
be better understood, it may be worth while to give 
a sketch of his labors. The subject was taken up 
in 1873 as an amusement, and as a means of divert- 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

ing the mind from the cares of an arduous profes- 
sional business. The raising of fancy chickens had 
been a hobby for years, and the various published 
statements of the methods of hatching chickens arti- 
ficially had been carefully studied. As the resi- 
dence of the author was heated by steam, it was 
thought that a sufficiently equable heat could be 
obtained from the top of the steam boiler to do the 
work of incubation. Hence an incubator was con- 
structed with two drawers, one above the other, and 
with the lower edges of its sides curved to fit the 
top of the brick casing of the steam boiler ; a ther- 
mometer was placed in this incubator, and it was 
found that there was sufficient heat for the purpose. 
The accounts of the various incubators made by 
others had informed the author that there were 
three things essential to successful artificial incuba- 
tion ; viz., an equable temperature, ventilation, and 
moisture. Moisture had been supplied by Bonne- 
main and his successors, by placing pans of water 
in the incubator beneath the eggs. Ventilation had 
also been effected by admitting air to the lower part 
of the incubator, and allowing the hot or foul air to 
escape from its top. Following in the steps of his 
predecessors in the art, the author fitted his first in- 
cubator with a water trough beneath the egg draw- 
ers, and with holes for the admission of fresh air, 
which was distributed beneath the egg drawers by 
means of metal plates. A ventilating hole also was 
made at the top, and was fitted with a damper 
valve, which was to be opened and closed for the 
purpose of varying the draught of air through the in- 
cubator and thus regulating the heat. The damper 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

valve was operated by a very large alcoholic ther- 
mometer, holding half a pint of alcohol, which was 
closed to the air by an inverted syphon pipe con- 
taining mercury on which a float was placed ; and 
the float was connected with the ventilating valve. 
This alcoholic thermometer proved too sluggish for 
any practical use, and was abandoned after a trial of 
three days. A second attempt was made to operate 
the ventilating valve, and thereby regulate the heat, 
by means of a large mercurial thermometer, the 
bulb of which was of iron and contained a pound of 
mercury. This also proved to be too sluggish, as it 
required a variation of 20 Fahrenheit in the egg 
chamber to make it operate the valve sufficiently. 
A third attempt was made with a thermostat con- 
structed of brass rods and glass tubes arranged like 
the bars of a compensation gridiron pendulum ; the 
requisite amount of movement being obtained by a 
system of multiplying levers. This also proved im-. 
practicable as a means for opening the valve within 
the required limits of temperature. The author 
then came to the conclusion that it was expedient 
to use a thermometer only to determine the temper- 
ature at which the valve was to be moved, and to 
rely upon some other force to operate the regulat- 
ing valve. He also determined to move the incu- 
bator into his work-room and to use lamps to 
furnish the heat, as this course would enable him to 
continue his experiments while the steam boiler for 
heating the house was not in use. 

Upon determining to use lamps, the first problem 
that presented itself was the regulation of the heat 
supplied by them. Ordinary kerosene lamps require 



8 INTRODUCTION, 

so much force to turn the wick up and down that it 
seemed useless to attempt to regulate the heat in 
that manner. The author knew of the use of slid- 
ing wick tubes for varying the flame of the spirit 
lamps used in chemical laboratories, but feared that 
these might become so clogged by crusts or deposits 
from the flame that their free movement would be 
prevented ; he therefore gave up the idea of using 
them, and finally came to the conclusion that the 
easiest way to regulate the heat would be to permit 
the flame of the lamp to burn regularly as it might 
be set by hand ; and to either use the heat, or to 
let it escape without materially heating the incuba- 
tor, as the heat of the incubating chamber fell or 
rose. In order to operate upon this system, the 
author invented his waste heat chimney, which in 
its simplest form is a chimney arranged within the 
ordinary chimney or flue of a lamp, and fitted at 
its upper end with a valve. When this valve is 
closed, the hot products of combustion from the 
lamp are compelled to pass between the central 
waste heat chimney and the ordinary chimney 
or flue ; and the walls of the latter being thereby 
heated transmit heat to the incubator. When, 
on the other hand, the damper valve is opened, 
the products of combustion take the direct course 
through the waste heat chimney and escape at its 
upper end, leaving the outer flue unheated. The 
operation of this contrivance is attended with an 
incidental operation which was not anticipated, but 
which is important. When the heat passes through 
the waste heat chimney, the draught is much 
stronger than when the heat is passing through the 






INTRODUCTION. 9 

outer flue ; and the effect of this stronger draught is 
to cause the air which enters the cone or deflector of 
the lamp to be deflected more forcibly against the 
flame at the flame slot of the burner, and conse- 
quently to reduce the volume of the flame. Hence 
the opening of the valve or damper of the waste 
heat chimney not only allows the heat to waste, but 
also causes a reduction of the flame, so that the heat 
given out by the lamp is reduced ; while the closing 
of the valve of the waste heat chimney not only 
utilizes the heat, but also causes the flame to in- 
crease in volume. The two movements of the 
valve therefore produce incidentally effects upon the 
flame similar to those of lowering and raising the 
lamp wick. 

The next matter to be decided was the means of 
circulating the heat through the incubator, and for 
this purpose water heaters were used operating upon 
the plan employed to heat green-houses. Two 
lamps were employed for heating, and a separate 
water heater was employed for each lamp. Each 
heater consisted of an endless pipe of rectangular 
cross-section, constructed in the form of a square 
ring and set on edge. A pipe or flue was soldered 
into one of the sides of this ring heater, so that the 
heated gases from the lamp might pass through this 
flue, and heat the water surrounding it. The water 
so heated rose in the upright side of the pipe heater, 
circulated horizontally along the upper horizontal 
part of the heater, descended through the opposite 
upright side, and passed horizontally along the lower 
horizontal part back to the first upright side of the 
heater in which the flue was situated, thus making a 



IO INTRODUCTION. 

continuous circulation. The two water heaters were 
placed edge to edge but were reversed right and left, 
the lamps being at opposite ends of the incubator, 
so that the current in one heater circulated along 
the upper part of the incubator from right to left, 
and the current in the other circulated in the oppo- 
site direction, thus equalizing the heat in the incu- 
bating chamber. 

The two drawers for eggs were arranged one over 
the other, and slid on rails through the rectangular 
space within the ring pipes. A waste heat chimney 
was secured in each lamp flue ; and a damper valve 
capable of being turned edgewise or flatwise, was ar- 
ranged in the upper end of each of these chimneys 
so that the heat from the lamp might either be per- 
mitted to waste through the chimney, or be com- 
pelled to heat the flue and the water of the heater 
surrounding it. 

For the purpose of moving the damper valves, 
the author determined to use springs controlled by 
electro-magnets, the circuit of electricity for which 
should be made and broken by the action of a ther- 
mometer. The first thermometer which the author 
planned for the purpose was one like Six's register- 
ing thermometer, with a large upright bulb contain- 
ing methyline, which moved a column of mercury. 
A platinum wire was soldered into the lower bend 
of the syphon tube so as to make a constant com- 
munication between the galvanic battery and the 
mercury. A second platinum wire was soldered in 
a downward direction into the descending branch of 
the tube in which the methylene expanded, the end 
of the wire being set at the point at which the mer- 



INTRODUCTION. II 

cury would be when the temperature was 98 Fah- 
renheit. A third platinum wire was introduced into 
the open ascending branch of the syphon pipe, with 
its lower end at the point at which the mercury 
would be at 105 Fahrenheit. The operation ex- 
pected was that while the temperature should be 
between 98° and 105 , the mercury would not make 
electric contact with either the second or third wires, 
but that both of them would be surrounded by the 
methylene, which is a non-conductor of electricity. 
Consequently so long as this condition of things 
lasted, no electricity would be conducted from the 
battery, and the valves would remain at rest. 
When, however, the temperature should sink to 98 
Fahrenheit, the mercury would make an electric 
connection between the first and second wires ; and 
when on the other hand the temperature rose to 
105° Fahrenheit, the mercury would make an elec- 
trical connection between the first and third wires. 
Two electro-magnets were used, and also two valve 
engines worked by springs ; the one to open the 
valves, and the other to close them. Each valve 
engine consisted of a train of wheels like a clock 
movement with a clock spring to furnish the motive 
power, and a fly to regulate the speed ; and each 
operated a reciprocating pawl which moved a ratchet 
wheel secured to the valve shaft ; one valve engine 
turning the valve shaft to the right hand, to open 
the valves ; and the other valve engine turning the 
valve shaft to the left to close the valves. Each 
valve engine was provided^ with a detent operated 
by its appropriate electro-magnet, so that when the 
circuit to that magnet was made by the upward 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

movement of the mercury in the corresponding arm 
of the thermometer syphon, the detent was oper- 
ated, and the valve engine was permitted to work 
and to move the valves. 

An electric switch was introduced into each cir- 
cuit, and a connection made between the valve shaft 
and these two switches so that whenever one of the 
valve engines had worked sufficiently (to open or 
close the valve) the switch appertaining to the elec- 
tro-magnet of that engine was opened and the elec- 
tric current was broken notwithstanding the contin- 
uance of the connection made by the mercury of 
the thermometer. The other switch was simulta- 
neously shut so as to make the electric circuit for 
the other valve engine complete except the gap to 
be filled by the movement of the mercury of the 
thermometer ; consequently whenever the mercury 
was moved sufficiently by the variation of tempera- 
ture, the electric circuit for the valve engine was 
completed. The thermometer was arranged upright 
at the rear of the egg drawers, and the foul air was 
permitted to escape at the top of the incubator 
through a short pipe ; the escape being regulated 
by a damper valve that was opened and closed with 
the waste heat valves, so that whenever the heat 
within the incubator rose to 105 the draught of air 
through it was increased simultaneously with the 
shutting off of heat from the lamps. 

When this apparatus was set at work with several 
thermometers distributed in the drawers, certain de- 
fects were speedily demonstrated. In the first place 
it was found that the upper drawer had an average 
of eight degrees higher temperature than the lower, 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

although the difference in level did not exceed four 
inches. In the second place, it was found that the 
fresh air admitted at the bottom of the incubator 
did not distribute itself equably throughout it, but 
formed currents, taking about the shortest lines 
from the entry orifices to the escape orifice at the 
top, while eddies were apparently formed in other 
parts. Hence the temperature at different parts of 
the same drawer, and at the same level in the incu- 
bator, varied materially ; and although the difficulty 
was overcome to some extent by introducing per- 
forated diaphragms beneath the drawers to distrib- 
ute the air, this plan proved unsatisfactory. Another 
defect was the vertical arrangement of the ther- 
mometer bulb, which caused its upper end to be 
materially hotter than its lower end. Another 
difficulty arose from the fact that the methylene of 
the thermometer prevented an immediate electric 
connection between the mercury and the platinum 
w T ire ; hence the mercury would sometimes rise half 
an inch above the end of the wire in the methylene 
of the thermometer before the electric circuit would 
be completed. 

These defects rendered it useless to attempt to 
hatch eggs with the incubator, and it was determin- 
ed to reconstruct it, using the same egg drawers. 
To obviate the first defect, the two egg drawers 
were placed side by side at the same level. To 
obviate the second defect, a new system of ventilat- 
ing an incubator was devised which has proved to be 
one of the essentials of success for artificial incuba- 
tion, and for which, among other improvements, the 
author has received a patent (No. 193,616, A.D. 1877). 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

According to this system, the fresh air for ventilation 
is admitted into the incubating chamber at its top, 
while the air in the chamber is drawn off nearer its 
bottom. The warm air is thus forced to circulate 
downward against its natural upward tendency ; and 
the practical result is that local currents do not - 
form, and the air arranges itself in layers or strata 
which sink gradually and are of nearly uniform tem- 
perature at the same level throughout the incubat- 
ing chamber. 

A new thermometer was procured with a horizon- 
tal methylene bulb connecting with an upright invert- 
ed syphon pipe for mercury ; and a steel float swim- 
ming upon the mercury was used to communicate 
motion to the switches for making the electric cir- 
cuits for the electro-magnets. For this purpose 
the float was suspended from one arm of a balance 
lever which it moved. This lever also carried sus- 
pended from each arm an inverted U shaped plati- 
num wire, having its ends arranged to dip into two 
mercury cups connected with the circuit wires. The 
connection between the float and the balance lever 
was so adjusted that when the temperature w r as mid- 
way between the two extreme limits, the balance 
lever was level, and neither wire was dipped into the 
mercury cups ; when, however, the float was lowered 
by a fall of temperature, the lever tipped and one of 
the bent wires or switches was lowered into one 
pair of the mercury cups and completed the circuit 
of one electro-magnet, while the second switch was 
raised ; and when the float rose, by the rise of the 
temperature, the second switch was lowered to com- 
plete the circuit of the second electro-magnet, while 



INTRODUCTION. 1 5 

the first switch was raised. The clock mechanism 
for moving the valves, and the system of breaking 
the circuit by the movement of the valve shaft, 
after the valves had been moved the proper distance 
by either valve engine, were used as before. 

In order that the regulating thermometer might 
be affected by the mean temperature of the two egg 
drawers, the thermometer was placed in the base of 
the ventilating chimney for the foul air. This base 
was formed by the space between the slides or rails 
of the adjacent sides of the two draw r ers, which thus 
became a chamber for the thermometer. The 
syphon pipe for the float protruded at the front of 
the incubator ; and the balance beam from which 
the float was suspended, was supported on a column 
in a glass case on top of the incubator. 

The fresh air for ventilation was supplied through 
two air pipes at each end of the incubator. One of 
these pipes was a simple pipe rising in the incubat- 
ing chamber from an aperture in the end near the 
bottom of the incubating chamber to w T ithin a short 
distance of its top. The other pipe was passed 
through the water heater ; it connected at its lower 
end with a hole in the bottom of the incubator, and 
its upper end delivered the air near the top of the 
incubator. By this arrangement, one of the pipes 
at each end could be used to supply air of the tem- 
perature of the atmosphere, while the other (which 
passed through the water heater) supplied air which 
was warmed by its passage through the water 
heater ; and either or both ventilating pipes could 
be used at pleasure. 

In order that moisture might be supplied, water 



l6 INTRODUCTION. 

pans were placed beneath the egg drawers, and 
sponges were placed in them to furnish an evaporat- 
ing surface. As, however, the circulation of the air 
within the incubator was to be downward, addi- 
tional evaporating pans were placed above the eggs 
so as to supply the hottest air with moisture, which 
would be carried down to the eggs by the descend- 
ing circulation of air. One of these upper evapora- 
ting pans was suspended over each egg drawer, and 
was supplied with water from a water bottle placed 
on top of the incubator and delivering the water to 
the evaporator through a small pipe ; the supply 
being regulated by a stopcock. Each upper evap- 
orator was provided with an overflow pipe, so that 
any surplus of water dropped into the pan under the 
eggs. This under pan also had an overflow pipe, 
delivering the surplus water into a vessel under the 
incubator. 

The first trial of this new incubator with two ther- 
mometers in each drawer, demonstrated that it 
would operate satisfactorily. The heat throughout 
both egg drawers was practically uniform, the varia- 
tion in horizontal directions being less than one de- 
gree ; while the temperature could be maintained 
by the regulating mechanism within one degree of 
Fahrenheit. It was fully tested for a month with 
thermometers in the drawers ; then, eight fresh eggs 
were put into the drawers, one in each corner of 
each drawer, and the machine was put regularly at 
work. About ten days after starting, some eggs that 
had been set upon by hens for a week were also put 
into the incubator. The first chicken was hatched 
from one of the fresh eggs on the nineteenth day, 



INTRODUCTION'. \J 

and the others came before the end of the twenty- 
first. After these first chickens were hatched, the 
drawers were progressively filled with fresh eggs, 
and 160 chickens and a number of ducklings were 
hatched that season. In fact the incubator, so far 
as the hatching of chickens from fresh eggs (with- 
out preliminary sitting under a hen) was concerned, 
was practically perfect, and experience demonstrated 
that it would hatch every fertile egg. Substantially 
the same incubator was used three seasons ; but, as 
the electro-magnetic mechanism was costly, and the 
thermometer and float mechanism were too delicate 
for common use, it was determined to get rid of 
them. Accordingly, after the first season's work was 
completed, a thermostat was made of strips of vul- 
canized India-rubber and of brass riveted together, 
and the change of form of the compound bars by 
heat was employed to operate the detent of the 
valve engine. The valves of the waste heat chim- 
neys, and of the ventilating chimney, were arranged 
to revolve, so that a quarter of a revolution of the 
valve shaft would open the valves, and the next 
quarter of a revolution in the same direction would 
close them. But one valve engine was used to do 
all the work. A weight also was substituted for a 
spring in working the valve engine ; the weight 
being arranged as in the common Cuckoo clocks. A 
drawer for young chickens was placed on top of the 
incubator, and the warm air escaping through the 
ventilating chimney was permitted to pass through 
this drawer, the temperature of which was thus 
maintained at about 90° Fahrenheit. 

It was deemed important that there should always 



1 8 INTRODUCTION. 

be a sufficient excess of force in the driving weight 
of the valve engine to insure the movement of the 
valves even in case of an accidental increase of fric- 
tion ; but as such excess of weight would tend to 
cause the valve engine to move with great speed, 
and would cause the detent arms to strike the de- 
tent with a jar, a speed controller became necessary. 
A fly controller, such as is used in the striking 
movements of clocks, requires a train of cog gearing 
to drive it at the requisite speed, and was therefore 
deemed objectionable. Hence a liquid speed con- 
troller was made by arranging a four-bladed paddle- 
wheel to revolve in a trough of water nearly fitting 
the paddles, and the paddle-wheel was mounted 
upon and secured to the valve shaft, so that the 
valve shaft could be turned by the weight no faster 
than the water would permit the paddles to revolve. 
This contrivance works almost without friction, and 
controls the speed admirably, preventing any jar or 
slam. 

The water heaters, egg drawers, air supply pipes, 
and evaporators remained unchanged. 

Upon testing the incubator fitted with the ther- 
mostat it was found that the pressure of the detent 
arms against the detent operated by the thermostat 
was sufficient to hamper the movement of the latter. 
To obviate this defect, the detent arms were re- 
moved from the main shaft of the valve engine, and 
a separate shaft was added, and was connected with 
the main shaft by cog-wheels, so as to make a com- 
plete revolution (in place of a quarter of a revolu- 
tion) for each revolution of the main shaft. This 
modification reduced the pressure against the detent 






INTRODUCTION, 19 

to only one quarter of what it had been ; but it also 
required the reduction of the detent arms to a single 
one. To make this arm operate both for opening 
and closing the valves, two detents were placed side 
by side on the rock shaft with which the thermostat 
was connected ; the detent arm was constructed to 
vibrate crosswise of its plane of revolution ; the end 
of the detent arm was made in the form of a T ; 
and a self-acting switch was placed in its plane of 
revolution, so that the detent arm during each rev- 
olution was moved laterally by the switch, and 
was caused to operate alternately upon each detent. 
This contrivance worked well, and the incubator 
with it was kept in continuous operation, hatching 
chickens, for four months. The switch arrangement 
was not however as good a contrivance as the inven- 
tor deemed desirable ; hence while the incubator 
was in operation he devised a new plan of valve 
engine, in which two detents were used ; the first or 
regulator detent being operated by the thermostat, 
and controlling the action of a light spring, while 
the second detent was operated by this spring, and 
controlled the action of the weight of the valve 
engine. By this contrivance the resistance pre- 
sented by the valve engine to the movement of the 
regulator detent by the thermostat, was reduced to 
the friction caused by the pressure of the light 
spring ; and the thermostat was relieved of the labor 
of operating the main or engine detent which con- 
trolled the action of the weight of the valve engine. 
As the light spring ran down partially at each opera- 
tion, a connection was made between it and the 
main shaft of the valve engine, so that, whenever 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

the latter turned to operate the valves, it wound up 
the light detent spring as much as the latter had 
run down in operating the second or engine detent. 
The connection between the spring and the main 
detent was made by means of two light cog-wheels. 
This new form of valve engine worked admirably, 
and it left nothing further to be desired in that 
direction. The incubator, however, still contained 
water heaters for circulating the heat, and the 
author determined to dispense with these, and to 
circulate the heat through the incubator by the air 
employed for ventilation. To accomplish this, the 
ascending air supply pipes were made large enough 
to receive within them the upright flues of the 
lamps ; the space between the exterior of the lamp 
flue and the interior of the air supply pipe being 
about half an inch broad all round the lamp 
flue. The heat, radiated into each of the two air 
supply pipes by the lamp flue within it, caused cur- 
rents of air to set upward through them ; and this 
air, being heated in its upward passage, and escap- 
ing at the upper ends of the air supply pipes, dis- 
tributed the heat through the incubating chamber. 
The lamp flue, after ascending through the air sup- 
ply pipe nearly to the top of the incubating chamber, 
was conducted horizontally toward its centre, and 
was fitted with an escape pipe passing through the 
top of the incubator, so that a large radiating sur- 
face was provided in the top of the incubating 
chamber. In order to supply moisture to the large 
quantity of air which would pass through the incu- 
bating chamber, it was deemed inexpedient to rely 
upon spontaneous evaporation ; consequently an 






INTRODUCTION. 21 

evaporating pan was applied to the head of each up- 
right lamp flue, and provision was made to supply 
each evaporating pan constantly and automatically 
with water from a font on top of the incubator. 

Upon testing the apparatus with this hot air system 
of heating, it was found that the heat could be 
maintained within the required limits as easily as 
with the water heaters ; but the quantity of water 
required for moistening the air had been overesti- 
mated, and the air became so thoroughly saturated 
with moisture that as it cooled, while moving down- 
ward to the level of the base of the ventilating chim- 
ney, a portion of the water was deposited upon the 
eggs and stopped the pores of the egg shells. Such 
a stoppage, if complete, is fatal to incubation; because, 
although the hatching of the germ under such cir- 
cumstances commences and proceeds regularly for 
some days, death takes place sooner or later by 
suffocation. The excessive supply of moisture was 
corrected by reducing the evaporators to half their 
first dimensions, and then the incubator worked 
admirably, hatching every fertile egg up to the time 
of breaking the shell ; at which crisis (as is always 
the case with eggs from parents too closely related) 
a small percentage of chickens are sometimes unable 
to free themselves by reason of some malformation, 
or a wrong position of the beak ; it being occasion- 
ally the case that the head of a chicken in the egg is 
tucked under one leg, or that the beak is deformed 
so that it does not pierce the shell. 

The success of the hot air system, with supple- 
mentary evaporation automatically regulated in 
quantity, has been so well demonstrated by constant 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

use, that it is believed it must supersede the system 
of water heating ; particularly as it enables a large 
supply of fresh air to be circulated through the in- 
cubating chamber, without an excessive loss of heat. 
Consequently the author now employs this system 
exclusively. The descending system of ventilating 
the incubating chamber devised by the author, in- 
sures the heating of the upper sides of the eggs 
hotter than their lower sides, as is the case with eggs 
under a hen ; while the supply of moisture above 
the eggs insures the saturation of the hot air with 
moisture before it comes in contact with the eggs, 
so that they are not materially deprived of it. 
With the usual hot water system of distributing the 
heat, it is necessary to wet the eggs frequently by 
dipping them in warm water. The system now used 
by the author renders such dipping unnecessary ; 
while the automatic supply of water by means of 
fonts, operating upon the principle of the bird foun- 
tain, keeps the evaporation constant, and renders it 
easy to observe the quantity used. . 

As to the temperature required to hatch eggs suc- 
cessfully, the views gathered by the author from the 
information published on that subject at first led 
him to believe that only a minute variation from a 
certain temperature was permissible. This tempera- 
ture was stated to be 104 or 105 Fahrenheit. In 
order to test the correctness of this temperature, the 
author applied a delicate recording thermometer to 
the breast of a sitting hen, and found the tempera- 
ture to be 106 . It was, however, manifest that 
the egg during hatching cannot attain this tempera- 
ture, because its upper side only is next to the hen, 



INTRODUCTION. 

while its lower side is in contact with the ground. 
In order to ascertain the internal temperature of the 
egg, the end of one was pierced with a hole of suffi- 
cient size to admit a thermometer bulb ; a little car- 
bolic acid was mixed with the contents to prevent 
purification ; the thermometer bulb was inserted 
centrally, and the crevice around the thermometer 
tube was closed with plaster of Paris. The egg thus 
prepared was placed under a sitting hen, and in the 
centre of a clutch of eggs that had been set upon for 
several days. The temperature of the egg at the 
time was 65°. The temperature rose to gS\ and 
then remained constant during the day. Early the 
next morning, the temperature was 96^. It was 
therefore evident that the temperature, to which 
eggs might be exposed in an incubator, might varv 
from 96° or 98" to 106° (the temperature of the hen's 
breast) without danger. Before this experiment was 
made, the author had assumed that the variation of 
temperature should not exceed two degrees ; and 
the first system of regulation used successfully by 
him (by means of the methylene thermometer and 
an electro-magnetic detent mechanism controlling a 
valve engine), could be readily adjusted to maintain 
the heat within one degree (in either direction) of 
any desired mean temperature, as proved by a regis- 
tering thermometer. The experiments with an egg 
under a hen, and other facts, led him to the conclu- 
sion that such excessive nicety was useless. It was 
also known that eggs had been hatched successfully 
by keeping the egg in contact with the human body ; 
and, as the temperature of this rarely exceeds 98°, 
that temperature must be high enough. Conse- 



2 4 



INTRODUCTION. 



quently with incubators now made by the author, 
no attempt is made to maintain the temperature 
more regularly than between 98 and 103 ; and this 
is found sufficient for all practical purposes. The 
mean temperature of the contents of an egg under 
such circumstances is about 101 , rising sometimes 
to 102 ; which is hotter than the above-mentioned 
experiment demonstrated to be the case with an egg 
under a hen. There is no doubt that a fresh egg 
will hatch a little faster, if the temperature be main- 
tained closely to 102 , than it will if the temperature 
be permitted to vary down to 96 or98° ; the hasten- 
ing sometimes being as much as thirty-six hours ; 
but as eggs hatched in the natural way require an 
average of twenty-one days for the work, and as a 
temperature oscillating between 98 and 103 will 
bring out the chickens from fresh eggs in from 
twenty to twenty-one days, there is no necessity for 
greater uniformity. 

Incubators made by the author are provided with 
a thermometer whose bulb is on about a level with 
the middles of the eggs. The highest temperature 
denoted by these thermometers should not as a gen- 
eral rule exceed 107 , and need not be more than 
102 ; while the lowest should not be below 97 , un- 
less when the drawers are open, or some unusual 
occurrence takes place. An occasional rise of tem- 
perature in the drawers to no° will not destroy life 
in an egg, provided this temperature be not main- 
tained too long ; and an occasional descent below 
90 is not fatal ; if in both cases there be good ven- 
tilation and sufficient moisture in the air, as is 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

always the case with the thermostatic incubator 
hereafter described. 

In addition to the peculiar systems of descending 
ventilation, heat regulation, and moisture supply 
devised by the author, he has invented several im- 
provements in the construction of thermostats 
which are important as rendering their operation 
more certain and more delicate. One of these con- 
sists of the combination of two compound thermo- 
static bars with one multiplying lever, the fulcrum 
pivot of which is carried by one of the thermostatic 
bars. This combination enables about double the 
amount of movement for regulation to be obtained 
with thermostatic bars of the same length as com- 
pared with the common system of levers. Another 
improvement is the counterpoising of the weight of 
the compound thermostatic bars, so as to leave prac- 
tically their whole expansive force available for reg- 
ulation. Another improvement is a shifting weight, 
which is operated by the valve engine and aids the 
movement of the thermostat alternately in opposite 
directions, thus counterbalancing the frictional re- 
sistance of the regulator detent. These improve- 
ments enable the thermostat to regulate the heat 
with certainty within about one degree of either side 
of a given mean temperature as tested by a delicate 
thermometer notwithstanding rapid variations in the 
supply of heat. 

Another improvement devised by the author has 
reference to the turning of the eggs automatically. 
As early as 1875 this subject engaged his attention, 
and in January, 1876, several plans of accomplishing 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

the work were invented. These plans were all 
based upon the principle of turning the eggs by the 
frictional contact of their surfaces with those of 
rollers, or of belts, upon which the eggs rest ; and a 
patent, dated February 3d, 1880, No. 224,224, has 
been granted to the author for this system. The 
best mode of embodying it is to construct the egg 
holders or egg drawers with a series of parallel roll- 
ers, whose journals are supported in bearings se- 
cured in the front and back of the drawer ; the 
axes of the rollers being about two inches apart, and 
the rollers being one inch in diameter. The rollers 
are connected by bands, so that when one roller is 
turned, the whole set turn in the same direction. 
Hence an egg laid upon any two rollers is caused to 
turn by the frictional contact of its shell with the 
surfaces of the rollers. One of the rollers is fitted 
with a toothed ring, to which the hand is applied if 
the turning is to be done by hand. If the turning 
is to be effected automatically, one of the journals 
is fitted with a ratchet-wheel, and a reciprocating 
pawl is fitted to act upon the teeth of this wheel. 
The pawl is operated by clock-work having the 
ordinary time movement and also a turning move- 
ment similar to the striking movement of an ordi- 
nary striking clock, but moving the pawl instead of 
the bell hammer ; so that at any desired interval of 
time, say every half hour, the time movement of 
the clock releases the turning movement, and lets 
the pawl turn the ratchet-wheel and supporting roll- 
ers, one or more teeth. In place of using special 
clock-work, the pawl may be connected either with 
the valve engine of the incubator, or with a shaft 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

worked with a special weight, but connected by a 
detent with the valve engine ; so that at every alter- 
nation of temperature, the eggs may be partially 
turned. The eggs will thus be turned progressively, 
and a complete revolution may be effected in about 
six hours, more or less as deemed expedient. In 
place of turning the eggs continually in the same 
direction, two ratchet-wheels may be used with a 
reversible pawl, or with alternating pawls ; so that 
the eggs may be turned alternately in opposite 
directions. 

An incubator embodying all the author's inven- 
tions thus far described, proved to be too expensive 
a machine for common use, hence the attempt was 
made to simplify its construction without materially 
affecting its efficiency. This attempt led to a series 
of experiments resulting in the form of incubator de- 
scribed hereafter, and in certain additional improve- 
ments for which patents have been granted. This 
incubator is described in the following pages ; it holds 
160 eggs, and can be sold at a moderate price. In 
it the new style of thermostat, invented by the 
author and operating by tension, is employed to de- 
termine the temperature at which the valves of the 
waste heat chimneys are to be opened and closed by 
a weight, like a clock weight ; the thermostatic bar 
being subjected to a heavy tensile strain by which 
the tendency to spring and operate irregularly is 
practically done away with. The valve engine is a 
strong piece of mechanism without a single cog- 
wheel ; all of its members, including the liquid speed 
controller, being secured in a strong brass frame, 
and being protected from dust by a glass shade. 



28 



INTRODUCTION. 



This incubator can be managed by any person who 
is competent to operate a sewing-machine or to take 
care of a clock ; and it can be operated in any room 
in a house, as with ordinary care an egg need never 
be broken in it, and need never become offensive. 
As this incubator has been thoroughly tested, it is 
confidently offered to those who wish to raise chick- 
ens for either profit or amusement. 



ROLLER EGG DRAWER. 








FIG. I. 



CONSTRUCTION OF THE INCUBATOR. 



The Thermostatic Incubator in its present form 
has a capacity of 160 eggs. It is represented in 
Figs. I to 8 inclusive, Fig. I being a perspective view 
of it. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of it above 
the egg trays. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sec- 
tion of the incubator through one of the waste heat 
chimneys. Fig. 4 is a plan of the incubator with 
the top removed. Fig. 5 is a central vertical longi- 
tudinal section of the incubator. Fig. 6 is a view 
of the end at which the valve engine is arranged. 
Figs. 7 and 8 are views of the valve engine of about 
two fifths of the working dimensions. The same 
letters are used to indicate the same parts in the 
various figures. 

The incubator comprises the following principal 
parts — viz. : 

1st. The incubating chamber, which is the in- 
terior A A' of the main case. 

2d. The egg holders B B', which are the draw- 
ers or sliding trays at the front and rear of the ap- 
paratus. Each of these will hold, without crowding, 
40 eggs, which are laid in rows. If the eggs are 
crowded together, the drawers will hold a larger 
number, but crowding interferes with the turning of 
the eggs. The bottom of each drawer is composed 
of rollers upon which the eggs lie, and which are 
connected by elastic bands, so that when one roller 



CONSTRUCTION. 



31 




FIG. 2. 



is turned all revolve equally and compel the eggs 
to turn. Hence all the eggs in one drawer can be 
turned simultaneously by a slight movement of the 
hand applied from beneath to a stud-wheel n ; the 
drawer being first partly drawn out of the incuba- 
tor. This construction of egg holders with rollers 
was patented to the author February 3d, 1880, 
(Patent No. 224,224), and he is the only person who 




FIG. *. 



32 CONSTRUCTION. 

is authorized by law to use it or to permit others to 
do so. 

3d. The heat flues d d. In the author's first in- 
cubators these were at opposite ends of the incuba- 
tor, but in those now made the heat flues are both 
at one end of the incubator, this arrangement being 
in many respects the most expedient. Each heat 
flue projects below the bottom of the incubating 
chamber, so that the projecting end may be engaged 
in the short chimney £* of a lamp C. Each flue rises 
to the upper part A of the incubating chamber (A 
A 7 ), where it passes into a box h in an evaporating 
pan M. From this pan the flue e e' extends hori- 
zontally toward the opposite end of the incubating 
chamber, where it is fitted with a vent pipe a, 
which passes into the ventilating chimney. The 
horizontal portion, /, of the flue is broad and thin, 
and becomes broader as it recedes from the lamp, so 
as to present a radiating surface which increases in 
size as the heat of the gases from the lamp 
diminishes. 

4th. The lamps C C, by which the heat is sup- 
plied. These have ordinary kerosene burners and 
short tin chimneys £\ each fitted with a pane of mica 
to permit the flame to be inspected. The lamps 
are trimmed and filled in the common way. Each 
lamp is supported upon a movable spring lamp gal- 
lery T, which can be depressed to disengage the 
lamp chimney from the flue above. To remove the 
lamp for filling and trimming, the operator should 
grasp the lamp font with one hand and should pull 
the gallery downward with the other hand suffi- 
ciently to disengage the lamp chimney from the flue 



CONSTRUCTION. 



33 




FIG. 4. 



above it ; then he should lift the lamp out of the 
cavity of the gallery and draw it toward him, after 
which the lamp gallery should be allowed to rise 




fig. 5. 






34 CONSTRUCTION. 

gently. The wick should be trimmed slightly 
rounding. When the lamp is filled, trimmed, and 
lighted, it may be replaced in the cavity of the 
lamp gallery, which should be drawn down for the 
purpose, by applying one hand to the knob pendant 
of the gallery, sufficiently to permit the short lamp 
chimney to pass beneath the heat flue ; and when 
the lamp font is engaged in the gallery, the latter 
should be permitted to rise slowly by the force of the 
spring, while the font is steadied by the hand so as 
to guide the short chimney over the end of the heat 
flue. The short chimney should be put on with its 
mica pane outward, so that the height of the flame 
can be observed. 

The lamp fonts are purposely made of large size, 
so that they will hold kerosene enough for forty- 
eight hours, in case the operator should some day 
forget to fill them. The size of the lamp burners 
depends upon the temperature of the room in which 
the incubator is used. If the temperature of the 
room does not sink lower than 65 Fahrenheit, the 
ordinary " A" burners maybe used with advantage. 
If, however, the temperature of the room is liable to 
run down below 65 Fahrenheit, " B" burners 
should be used ; care being taken that the wicks are 
not turned up too high. The lamp fonts will admit 
of the use of burners of either size, reducing rings 
being used to accommodate the rings of the fonts to 
the dimensions of the screws of " A" burners. 
The only objection to the use of the larger ("B") 
burners at all times is the risk of burning more 
kerosene than is necessary, and the consequent waste 
of oil. If, however, care be exercised in the adjust- 



( < INSTRUCTION. 



35 



ment of the wicks, a little practice will enable the 
operator to use the " B" burners without waste of 




fig. 6. 

oil, whether the room be warm or cold ; but if the 
incubator be put at work in this latitude during the 



36 CONSTRUCTION. 

winter, it is safer to start with B burners and to 
change the burners when the warm weather in May 
commences. 

5th. The waste heat chimneys I I. There is one 
of these for each lamp ; each chimney extending 
through the lamp flue, and passing out of the top 
of the incubator, where the chimney is fitted with an 
acorn-shaped drop valve E. When this valve is 
lowered, the chimney is closed, the waste of heat 
is prevented, and the heated gases from the lamp 
are compelled to pass through the lamp flues d y e e\ 
and to heat the incubator. When the valves are 
raised, the waste heat chimneys are open, and the 
greater part of the heat from the lamps escapes, 
thus permitting the incubator to cool. 

Hence the opening or closing of the valves of the 
waste heat chimneys determines the heat of the in- 
cubator ; and this opening and closing is effected 
automatically by the valve engine as controlled by 
the thermostat. 

6th. The air supply pipes for fresh air. There is 
one of these, J, surrounding each lamp flue d. The 
fresh air from the air supply pipes is discharged into 
the upper part of the incubating chamber beneath 
the evaporating pans M ; and the air is heated as it 
rises, by the radiation of heat from the upright lamp 
flues d. 

7th. The ventilating chimney G. This is located 
at the end of the incubator which is furthest from 
the lamps. A part of it is within the casing, being 
formed by the partition k ; the residue projects 
above the top of the incubating chamber. 

The ventilating chimney connects by openings 



CONSTRUCTION. 37 

through the lower part of the partition k, with the 
incubating chamber beneath the perforated bottoms 
of the egg holders or trays. Hence while the hot 
air enters at the top of the incubating chamber at 
one end of it, the foul or colder air passes into the 
ventilating chimney from the bottom of the oppo- 
site end of the chamber, and consequently there is 
a downward circulation of the heated air through 
the egg holders and incubating chamber. This 
downward circulation (as previously explained) 
tends to equalize the temperature in horizontal 
directions, while it causes the upper sides of the 
eggs to be hotter than their under sides, thus corre- 
sponding with the application of heat from the body 
of a hen in natural incubation. 

The ventilating chimney also receives the spent 
gases from the vent pipes a of the heat flues, so that 
it is always kept warm by such gases, and conse- 
quently has a good draught. If, however, the 
draught should not prove sufficiently active in hot 
weather (when but a comparatively small quantity 
of heat is furnished by the lamps) to insure the req- 
uisite circulation of air, a piece of pipe two feet in 
length may be applied to the upper end of the ven- 
tilating chimney so as to lengthen it. 

In the first incubators made by the author, the 
base of the part of the ventilating chimney above 
the incubating chamber was enlarged to receive a 
valve, which being operated by the valve engine con- 
trolled the ventilation automatically. In the incu- 
bators as now made by the author, the ventilating 
valve (z r , Figs. 5 and 7) is arranged at the end of the 
incubator nearest the valve engine, where it is oper- 



38 



CONSTRUCTION. 



ated directly by the same rock shaft, D, that works 
the waste heat chimney valves E, being opened 
and closed simultaneously with them. The opening 
of this ventilating valve produces supplementary 
ventilation, and by letting the hottest air escape, 
prevents possible overheating ; but the valve per- 
mits only a partial escape of the heated air, so that 
the circulation through the incubating chamber is 
continued, notwithstanding the opening of this ven- 
tilating valve. 

8th. The evaporators. These consist of two 
pans (M M, Figs. 3 and 4), located in the upper 
part of the incubating chamber at the heads of the 
upright portions of the heat flues d d. Their office 
is to supply moisture to the air, thus preventing the 
drying of the eggs. Each evaporator is supplied by 
a font, N, Figs. 1 and 6, having a feed pipe pro- 
jecting from its bottom and passing downward, 
through a hole in the top of the incubator, into its 
appropriate evaporating pan. The feed pipe of 
each font is fitted with an automatic ball valve 
which prevents the escape of water while the font is 
being withdrawn and replaced. When a font is to 
be filled, it should be quickly raised with one hand 
and moved over a shallow pan or a saucer so that 
any drip maybe caught. Then the forefinger of the 
other hand should be applied to the nozzle of the 
feed pipe, and the font should be turned upside 
down and rested upon its head. It may then be 
readily filled by means of a pitcher and a funnel. 
After it has been filled, the forefinger of one hand 
should be applied to the nozzle before the font is 
turned head upward ; and after it has been turned, 



CONSTRUCTION. 39 

it should be held momentarily over the pan or 
saucer, to catch any drip after the finger is with- 
drawn from the nozzle. The font may then have 
its nozzle entered in the hole in the top of the in- 
cubator, and should be lowered to its place. As the 
font descends, the ball valve is opened by a pin 
secured to the evaporating pan, and the water 
escapes whenever the level of the water in the 
evaporating pan sinks low enough to unseal the 
nozzle of the font. 

9th. The heat distributor. As the lamps and the 
evaporator.^ are both at the same end of the incuba- 
tor, and as the heat of the flues must therefore be 
progressively less as they extend toward the opposite 
end, while the air admitted for ventilation also 
tends to cool down in its passage from the vicinity 
of the evaporators onward and downward to the 
lower end of the ventilating chimney, the incubator 
should be hottest near the lamps, and the heat 
should be progressively lower toward the ventilating 
chimney. This is the natural tendency ; and to 
obviate it, the heat distributer R is provided. This 
distributer consists of a diaphragm of pasteboard, 
or other material, arranged horizontally between the 
undei' sides of the horizontal flues e e' , and the open 
tops of the egg holders beneath. The diaphragm is 
partly cut away so as to permit the descent of the 
warm air and the moisture carried by it ; and the 
removal of portions by cutting away is greatest over 
the drawers which are furthest from the lamps. 
The operation of this distributer is to obstruct the 
direct downward passage of all the warm air through 
the drawers that are nearest the lamps ; to cause a 







FIG. 7. 



CONSTRUCTION. 41 

large portion of the hot air to move along over the 
distributer to the drawers that are farthest from the 
lamps ; to obstruct the direct radiation of heat from 
the portions of the horizontal flues ee' that are nearest 
the lamps ; and by the above operations to distrib- 
ute the heat more equally than it would be other- 
wise. The substance which we prefer to use as the 
material for the heat distributer is what is com- 
monly called heavy tar-board, which is a pasteboard 
made from tarred junk, and it is thoroughly var- 
nished with shellac varnish to repel moisture. 

10th. The valve engine. This engine is repre- 
sented more fully in Figs. 7 and 8. It is mounted 
upon a pedestal at the top of the apparatus, and is 
covered by a removable glass shade R 2 . Its main 
shaft W, Fig. 7, is fitted at one end with a crank P, 
whose wrist pin is connected by means of a con- 
necting rod b with an arm projecting from the valve 
shaft (D, Figs. 5, 6 and 7) beneath the valve engine. 
This valve shaft extends across the top of the incu- 
bator and is fitted at its ends with arms from which 
the drop valves E are suspended. The weight of 
the valves and arms of this rock-shaft is counter- 
poised, so that a very small force is required to move 
the valves. 

The valve engine is driven by a weight hanging 
upon a chain which passes round the chain pulley (O, 
Fig. 7) on the main shaft W. The chain is endless, 
and is divided into two loops by the winding pul- 
ley X. Each loop holds a weight ; the larger (V) of 
which furnishes the force for driving the engine, 
while the lighter weight o 2 tautens the chain. As the 
heavier weight runs down in working the valve 



42 



CONSTRUCTION. 




CONSTRUCTION. 43 

the lighter weight is drawn up, and if the 
heavier weight should be permitted to run down to the 
floor, the further movement of the valve engine would 
be prevented. Hence the heavier weight must be 
wound up periodically, generally every morning and 
evening, the winding being effected by taking hold 
of the strand of chain which extends from the 
lighter weight o* (Fig. 6) to the winding pulley X and 
pulling it downward ; the operation being repeated 
until the heavier weight is wound up close to the 
winding pulley. Care must be taken that the loops 
of chain are not twisted, and are not out of the 
pulleys of the weights or the winding pulley ; either 
of which contingencies would render the valve engine 
inoperative. 

The valve engine now used is less sensitive in its 
action than the most perfect one which the author 
has produced ; but the loss in sensitiveness is com- 
pensated by simplicity, while the sensitiveness is 
sufficient to cause the engine to operate with a 
change of 3 of temperature. Those who desire a 
detailed description of a valve engine so sensitive that 
it will operate with a change of half a degree of 
temperature, will find it in the author's American 
patent. No. 210,55c, dated December 3d, 1878, a 
printed copy of which may be procured from the 
Patent Office. 

nth. The speed controller. This consists of a 
four-armed paddle-wheel y, Figs. 5, 7, and 8, revolv- 
ing in a trough Y containing a liquid. Its office is 
to prevent the valve engine from moving too rapidly 
and stopping with a jar. The trough should be 
filled with oil or glycerine up to within about three 



44 CONSTRUCTION. 

quarters of an inch of its brim, and the liquid should 
not be allowed to become thick. The best liquid 
for the purpose is a mixture of about equal quantities 
of water and glycerine, with the addition of about a 
teaspoonful of carbolic acid to prevent putrefac- 
tion. This mixture rarely requires replenishing. 
The liquid prevents the rapid movement of the 
paddle-wheel ; and as the paddle-wheel is secured to 
the main shaft of the valve engine, the speed of the 
latter is controlled, although the force of the driving 
weight is considerably in excess of that required to 
move the valves. 

The mode in which the valve engine operates is 
as follows : Above the main shaft W there is a rock 
shaft F, which carries a lever c, having at one end a 
curved plate Z. The main shaft is provided with 
arms S S 2 (hereafter more fully described), which 
alternately come in contact with the slotted curved 
plate Z, called the detent. The heavier weight o' 
tends continually to cause the main shaft to revolve ; 
but this revolution is alternately permitted and 
stopped by the action of the detent Z, whose position, 
as hereafter described, is determined by the Thermo- 
stat. Whenever the main shaft revolves, it carries 
with it the crank P. If the crank is thereby turned 
half a revolution from its lowermost to its upper- 
most position, the rock shaft D is rocked to drop 
the drop valves E E, thereby forcing the heat from 
the lamps to pass through the flues and raise the 
temperature of the incubator. When, on the other 
hand, the crank P is turned half a revolution from its 
highest to its lowest position, the rock shaft D is 
rocked to raise the drop valves F, thereby allowing 






CONSTRUCTION. 45 

the heat from the lamps to escape, the result of 
which is the cooling of the incubator until the next 
operation of the valve engine. 

12th. The thermostat. This is a species of ther- 
mometer using the expansion of a solid in place of 
the expansion of a liquid to indicate variations of 
temperature. The first thermostat used by the 
author was a compound bar composed of two strips 
of vulcanite and brass riveted together, and various 
improvements were devised to render the imple- 
ment sensitive and certain in its action. The ther- 
mostat now used, while sufficiently sensitive in its 
action, can be afforded at a less price than the com- 
pound bar, and its construction is based upon the 
different longitudinal expansions of vulcanite and dry 
wood or equivalent material. It consists of a strip 
of vulcanite s, Fig. 5, strained longitudinally upon a 
frame composed of two wooden bars / t y and of the 
metallic connections u of those bars. The strip is 
about thirty-nine inches long, and the difference in 
expansion between it and the wooden bars is multi- 
plied by two levers V 1 V 2 , the last of which is con- 
nected by a rod / with the lever arm w of the de- 
tent Z of the valve engine. The weight of the 
longer arms of the levers and of the rod / is more 
than counterpoised by the weight U, so that the 
strip of vulcanite is constantly under longitudinal 
tension, and the play or loose fitting of all the con- 
nections is taken up. The thermostat is set in the 
middle of the incubator between the backs of the 
front and rear drawers or trays, so that it is exposed 
to the variations of temperature which affect the 
eggs. The longitudinal expansion of the vulcanite 



4 6 



CONSTRUCTION. 



by an increase of heat in the incubating chamber 
permits the weight U to move the detent Z of the 
valve engine downward ; and the contraction of the 
strip incident to a decrease of heat raises the weight 
U, and moves the same detent upward. 

The mode in which the detent controls the move- 
ment of the valve engine is as follows : The main 
shaft of the engine is provided with two detent 
arms S S 2 , Figs. 7 and 8, the end of each of which 
is bent horizontally and is fitted to bear against the 
curved plate of the detent Z. At the central part 
of this curved plate there is a slot /"large enough to 
permit the bent end of either detent arm to pass 
freely ; but when the slot does not correspond with 
the position of the bent end of the detent arm, the 
movement of the latter is stopped by contact with 
the curved plate of the detent against which the 
arm then rests. The detent arms are diametrically 
opposite each other, but their bent ends are at 
different distances from the centre of the main shaft 
W, from which they project ; the difference in dis- 
tance being such that if the detent be in the position 
to permit one of the arms to pass through its slot, the 
opposite detent arm, after making half of a revolu- 
tion with the main shaft W, will have its movement 
stopped by contact with the surface of the detent 
plate. If such stoppage should occur when the 
bent end of the longer detent arm comes in contact 
with the detent Z, the valve engine will remain at 
rest, notwithstanding the effort of the weight to 
turn the main shaft, until the heat in the incubating 
chambers falls and the consequent contraction of 
the thermostat pulls the detent plate upward and 



CONSTRUCTION. 47 

brings its central slot opposite the bent end of the 
detent arm, thus freeing it and permitting the main 
shaft to turn and close the drop valves. This 
operation requires half a revolution and brings the 
shorter detent arm to the detent plate, the slot of 
which, however, does not now correspond with that 
arm. Hence, the further movement of the shorter 
detent arm will be prevented, and the valve engine 
will remain at rest until the heat rises sufficiently to 
expand the thermostat and let the detent be moved 
downward by the weight until its slot comes oppo- 
site the bent end of the shorter detent arm, and 
releases it ; whereupon the valve engine will be per- 
mitted to make a second half of a revolution, and so 
to open the drop valves. 

The relative differences of the lengths of the de- 
tent arms and the width of the slot in the detent de- 
termine the variation in temperature which is per- 
mitted, and the apparatus is permanently adjusted 
to operate with a variation of about 3 Fahrenheit. 
The highest temperature to be attained is adjust- 
able by the user ; and two means of adjustment 
are provided, either or both of which may be used 
as found expedient. One of these means is the 
screw H (Fig- 5) by which one end of the vul- 
canite strip of the thermostat is held in place. The 
milled head of this adjusting screw is at the outside 
of the end of the incubator that is farthest from the 
lamps, and it moves a lever with which the end of the 
vulcanite strip of the thermostat is connected. The 
turning of the upper edge of this screw head to the 
right hand has the same effect upon the multiply- 
ing levers as a reduction of temperature ; and the 



4cS CONSTRUCTION. 

turning of the same screw head to the left hand has 
the same effect as a rise*in temperature. As this ad- 
justing screw operates almost directly upon the 
vulcanite, its movement provides for large adjust- 
ments of temperature. 

The second means of adjustment consists of adjust- 
ing nuts ;;/ applied to the screwed upper end of the 
rod /, Fig. 8. The upper of these nuts only is neces- 
sary, as the lower nut may be left a short distance 
below the sleeve connection with the detent. If 
the temperature of the incubator is to run higher, 
the upper adjusting nut m is to be screwed higher 
on the rod /; and if the temperature is to run 
lower, the upper nut is to be screwed downward on 
the rod. If the lower nut is used, it must be 
screwed upward after the upper nut is moved, and 
must be screwed downward before the upper nut is 
moved. This second means of adjustment provides 
for small adjustments of temperature, and for any 
swelling and contraction of the case of the incubator 
which may possibly take place. 



PREPARATIONS FOR WORK. 

The incubator should be placed in a room in the 
house, where it will not be exposed to excessive 
heat or cold, nor to drafts of air. The incubator 
may be used in any room occupied for other pur- 
poses, as when ordinary care is taken it does not 
give out any smell or effluvia. The first incubator 
of the author was operated in his billiard-room, and 
for seven years past all the chickens have been 
hatched in the house ; the incubator being in charge 
of the gardener, who comes in for a few minutes, 
morning and evening, to attend to it. 

Before starting the incubator, the valve connec- 
tions should be examined for the purpose of ascer- 
taining whether the valves are in a condition to move 
freely. The valve shaft should always have a little 
play endwise, so as to prevent binding. It should 
be noticed whether the valves when lowered do or 
do not drop fairly into the heads of the waste heat 
chimneys. If they do not, the screws which secure 
the heads of the waste heat chimneys to the top of 
the incubator may be slacked, and the heads may be 
moved to suit the valves, after which the screws 
should be retightened. 

The paddles of the liquid speed controller should 
be examined for the purpose of ascertaining whether 
they turn freely in the trough. The arms may have 
been bent, in which case they should be bent back ; 



50 PREPARATIONS. 

or the trough may have been displaced by the jars of 
transportation, and its sides may bind against the 
paddles. In such cases the sides of the trough may 
be slightly bent, or the screws that secure the 
trough to the frame of the valve engine should be 
slacked and the trough moved sufficiently to free 
its sides from the paddles, after which the screws 
should be retightened. 

The bearings of the valve engine and weight pul- 
leys should be oiled with sewing-machine oil, or 
(better) with clock oil ; as well as the face of the 
curved detent plate. An extremely small quantity 
of oil is required for this purpose, as may be judged 
from the fact that a single fluid ounce served the 
author six years. The oil is most readily applied 
by dipping the end of a piece of small wire in the 
oil, and transferring the minute drop to the bearing. 

The trough of the speed controller should be 
filled with water, or with the mixture of glycerine 
and water previously mentioned, to within about 
three quarters of an inch of its brim. 

The freedom of the valve engine and valves 
should be tested by causing the regulator detent (Z, 
Figs. 7, 8) to move up and down by turning the 
adjusting screw H, Fig. 5, in alternately opposite 
directions, so as to release the two regulator detent 
arms successively ; the weight being permitted to 
work the engine and valves after each movement. 
If the valves do not open and close regularly, some- 
thing binds which requires adjustment. 

When the engine and valves are found to operate 
properly, the lamps maybe filled and lighted, and 
the glass water fonts may be filled with water and 



PREPARATIONS. 5 1 

put in place ; the adjusting screw being so turned 
that the valves remain closed, with the detent slot 
about an inch above the end of the detent arm. 

The lamp wicks should be turned up after the 
lamps are in place, slightly at first, and farther as 
the flues become warm and the draught improves, 
care being taken that the wicks are never turned up 
so high that the lamps smoke. The height of the 
flame to be used depends upon the temperature of 
the room in which the incubator is used. As a 
general rule, the flame should be of such a height 
that the valves will open and close on the average 
about two or three times an hour when the ap- 
paratus is in working order. If the wicks are trim- 
med properly, flames of B burners of about three 
eights of an inch in height above the cones or 
deflectors of the lamps will answer, when in the 
spring of the year the temperature of the room 
varies from 50 to 70 . In summer the flames 
should be lower than in spring ; but the best ad- 
justment can be learned only by practice. When 
the incubator is started, it takes some time to heat 
up, and when the temperature rises to ioo° in the 
drawers, the wicks can be readjusted as found ex- 
pedient. As the incubator heats up, the detent will 
be lowered by the expansion of the thermostat, and 
if it should be so lowered that the slot of the detent 
approaches the detent arm before the temperature 
reaches ioo°, the regulator screw should be turned 
to raise the detent higher, so that when the tem- 
perature reaches 102 , the detent slot permits the 
arm to pass through it. 

The lamp wicks should be trimmed rounding. 



;.- PREPARATIONS, 

The kerosene used should be of the best quality, 
such, for example, as IVvoe's Brilliant Oil, because 
causes the rapid crusting of the lamp 
wicks, and the c lient variation of the heat. li- 

the k< the lamps require to be trim- 

med bu: in twenty-four hours, and then but 

htly ; in what little crust there is can be 

rublv with a p I paper. The quantity 

>sene used depends greatly upon the skill of the 
attendant in adjusting the wicks ; but the pi 
adjustmc edily learned by pi If, for 

mple, the incubator is used in a room which is 
fht than in the day-time, the 
lamp wicks should be turned slightly higher in the 
ening than they are set in the morning. 
When the incubator is first put at work by an 
inexperienced operator, it should be allowed to run 
S before re put into it, so that the 

operator may become familiar with its management. 
The interior of the incubator may be examined by 
removing* the top. The following itions are re- 

quired for this purpose. The connecting rod i/, 
. 8), between the valve engine and ther- 
mostat, must be disconnected at its lower end from 
the lever Y 2 of the thermostat, and from the valve 
ine at its upper end, and must be lifted out. 
The water fonts should be lifted off. The screws, 
which hold the heads of the waste heat chimneys in 
j. must be taken out, and the waste heat chim- 
neys lifted out of the holes in the heads. This may 
^ when the valves are open or raised. 
by canting the chimney heads sidew they are 

lifted. The thermometer must also be lifted out. 



PREPARATIONS. 53 

care being taken to raise with it the pieces of cork 
which hold it in place. The chain and weights of 
the valve engine must be drawn up and laid upon 
the top of the incubator. The screws which secure 
the top of the incubator may then be taken out, 
and the top lifted off. 

The disconnection of the connecting rod / may be 
effected as follows : Apply the forefinger of the left 
hand beneath the end of the uppermost lever of the 
thermostat, which projects through the hole in the 
end door under the valve engine. The rod above the 
lever should be seized with the thumb and forefinger 
of the right hand, and should be pulled downward 
and slightly outward, so as to disengage the hooked 
lower end of the rod from the pivot of the lever. 
When the hook is disengaged, the rod may be per- 
mitted to move upward by the pull of the counterpoise 
of the valve engine. Afterward, the pivot which 
connects the upper end of the rod / with the shank of 
the detent, should be removed, and while the rod is 
held by the left hand, the rod should be drawn up- 
ward. The rod may be replaced by reversing the 
above operations, taking care that the opening of 
the hook at the lower end of the rod faces toward 
the end of the incubator. 

When the top of the incubator is off, the dis- 
tributer R should be examined for fear it may have 
been displaced by transportation, although such an 
accident is not likely to happen. When the dis- 
tributer is in its proper position, one end of it should 
be attached to the partition beneath the evapora- 
tors, and the edges of its sides should be equidistant 
from the front and rear of the incubator. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE INCUBATOR. 

WHEN but one incubator is employed for hatching 
chickens for domestic use, it is not the best plan to 
have too many of the same age hatched at a time ; 
besides, when but few hens are kept, it is not always 
easy to procure the requisite number of fresh eggs, of 
the kind wanted, to fill the incubator at one opera- 
tion. Hence, when starting the incubator for domes- 
tic use, it is expedient to put in only about two or 
three dozens of eggs, and to put in two additional 
dozens every second or third day until the trays are 
full. 

Before the eggs are put in, it is expedient to mark 
them with the date. This may be done with a pen 
and ink as follows : Hold the egg in the left hand 
against the rim of a table, or other support, such 
as a book laid on a table, on which the right arm is 
sustained, and mark the egg thus : 







FIG. 



MANAGEMENT. 55 

The first letter may be the designation of the pen 
or breed ; thus, H may designate Houdan ; L, Leg- 
horn ; L.B. Light Brahma, etc. 

The second line of letters and number denotes the 
month and day when the eggs are put into the in- 
cubator, say March 20th. 

The lowest letter and number denote a date three 
weeks later, being the date upon which the chickens 
are expected, say April 10th. 

The straight line between the dates shows the 
part of the egg that is to be uppermost during the 
day. 

As fast as the eggs are thus marked, place them 
in a shallow tray, pan, or paper box, having its bot- 
tom set at a slight slant so as to prevent rolling. 
When the marks are dry, take up each egg with the 
left hand, and with the inscription uppermost ; turn 
it over endwise between the forefinger and thumb 
as pivots, so as to bring uppermost the side directly 
opposite the inscription, and mark this side with a 
single line, thus : 




FIG. 10. 



56 MANAGEMENT. 

This line (unaccompanied by any date) indicates 
the side of the egg that is to be turned uppermost 
at night. 

These marks render the turning of the eggs with 
substantial accuracy a very easy and rapid opera- 
tion ; besides always indicating the time when the 
chickens may be expected, and furnishing an index 
of the state of incubation. 

The incubator should be attended to twice a day ; 
viz., early in the morning, and about ten or twelve 
hours afterward in the evening. The attendance 
in the morning should be, 

1. The registration of the temperature of every 
thermometer enclosed in the incubator, and particu- 
larly of the highest and lowest temperatures in- 
dicated by a registering thermometer, which, if not 
provided with the incubator, should be placed in the 
middle of one of the drawers upon two wooden 
blocks, so that its bulb is about level with the upper 
sides of the eggs. 

2. The turning of the eggs half round, which is 
effected by opening the front or flap of each tray, 
drawing the tray partially outward so that its con- 
tents may be seen, and turning the stud ring on the 
middle roller until the marks upon the under sides 
of the eggs are turned uppermost. 

3. The filling of the water fonts, and of the trough 
of the speed controller in case water be used in it. 
If oil, or a mixture of water and glycerine be used, 
the trough of the speed controller rarely requires 
attention. 

4. The winding of the weight of the valve engine. 

5. The filling and trimming of the lamps. The 



MANAGEMENT. 57 

advantage of doing this work last is that it obviates 
the risk of having kerosene on the hands when 
handling the eggs or filling the fonts. 

At night, the same work is to be done with the 
exception of filling the water bottles and trimming 
the lamps, unless the wicks have become crusted by 
the use of poor kerosene. If, however, the room is 
very cool at night, or liable to become so, the lamps 
should be turned up slightly higher than for the day- 
time. If the registering thermometer is in a drawer 
or is inside the incubator, then, about half an hour 
after the drawers have been opened, the indexes of 
the thermometer should be reset, unless the drawer 
has been kept open so short a time that the tem- 
perature at closing it is between ioo° and 103 , in 
which case the indexes may be set at once. 

When trays are used which are not provided with 
means for turning the eggs simultaneously, the eggs 
should be turned by hand as rapidly as practicable, 
commencing with the eggs that are nearest the back 
of the drawer or tray ; and, as the work proceeds, 
the tray should be progressively shoved in. In fact, 
the less the drawers or trays are opened, and the 
shorter the time during which they are kept open, the 
more equable will be the heat, and the less will the 
operation of incubation be affected. As the ventila- 
tion of the thermostatic incubator is automatic and 
practically perfect, it is unnecessary to expose the 
eggs to cool air by keeping the drawers open, unless 
some accident has occurred which has caused the 
overheating of the eggs. 

The valve-engine should be oiled occasionally, say 
about once a week. This operation is performed 



58 MANAGEMENT. 

most readily by means of a piece of broom corn, or 
a piece of fine wire, the point of which is dipped 
into a vessel of oil. The minute drop, accumulated 
on the point of the instrument, is applied in succes- 
sion to each bearing of each shaft ; and the face of 
the detent and the ends of the two detent arms of 
the main shaft also should be oiled by touching them 
slightly with the point of the finger slightly 
moistened with oil, as all that is required is a greasy 
surface ; the detent being held by the left hand 
during the operation of thus greasing its face. The 
pivots of the chain pulleys of the weights should 
also be oiled occasionally. So long as the bearing 
surfaces of the engine and pulleys do not become 
dry, the less the quantity of oil used the better will 
be the result. The engine will run frequently 
several weeks without reoiling ; but if a bearing 
should happen to become dry and stick, the incuba- 
tor would cease to regulate, and the eggs might be 
spoiled, unless the difficulty should be discovered in 
time. Hence it is better to oil the engine at least 
once, or even twice, a week, applying the oil as 
sparingly as possible, and wiping off any surplus 
with a soft rag on the end of a small stick, than to 
run any risk of dryness. 

It is possible that the temperature in the egg 
trays which are furthest from the lamps may run 
lower than that of the egg trays which are nearer 
the lamps. This contingency is most likely to occur 
in hot weather, when from the approximation of the 
temperature of the atmosphere to that of the in- 
terior of the incubator, the draught becomes slug- 
gish. If there should be a greater difference than 



MANAGEMENT. 59 

one degree between the mean temperatures in the 
farther and nearer trays, the matter should be reme- 
died, which is readily done by increasing the length 
of the ventilating pipe so as to cause the warm air 
to traverse the incubator more rapidly. Such a 
larger ventilating pipe of galvanized iron, roofing 
tin, or zinc may be procured of any tinsmith. Or, a 
much better pipe may be made by rolling a sheet of 
common wrapping-paper or of thin pasteboard upon 
a wooden roller or core two and a half inches in 
diameter, and pasting all but the inside layer as the 
rolling progresses. After the paper becomes dry, 
the pipe should be slit longitudinally with a pen- 
knife to enable it to be removed from the wooden 
core, and should then be enveloped in several 
layers of a sheet of paper covered on one side with 
paste. The paper pipe should subsequently be 
varnished. 

If the temperature of the room does not exceed 
70 , supplementary ventilation through the valve 
opening of the valve Z 1 is unnecessary, and the valve 
may be temporarily rendered inoperative. This 
may be readily effected by making a cone or cornu- 
copia of paper and pushing it point downward into 
the valve opening, thus closing it, but permitting 
the valve to be raised and lowered regularly by the 
operation of the valve engine. 

About the sixth or seventh day after each lot of 
eggs is put into the incubator, they should be ex- 
amined by means of an egg tester, and such as are 
clear should be set aside, as they are not fertile. 
These unfertile eggs may be boiled at once, and 
kept for feeding the young chickens. Sometimes 



60 MANAGEMENT. 

an unfertile egg may escape detection, and it is also 
possible that a partially developed chicken may die 
in the shell ; hence two days before the eggs are ex- 
pected to hatch they may be tested by placing them 
gently, a few at a time, in a large bowl or in a bucket 
of water heated to 104 . In a short time the eggs 
which contain live chickens will commence to bob 
about. The eggs which sink are addled, and those 
which float without bobbing are either addled from 
being originally unfertile, or contain germs which 
have progressed to a certain point and have then 
died. After the eggs have been tested, the live 
ones should be replaced in the incubator. 

After the last testing of the eggs, they should 
be placed in trays or drawers having bottoms of 
perforated metal (two of which are furnished with 
each of the author's incubators) which should be 
inserted in the incubator in place of the roller 
drawers, so that the chickens will have a good sur- 
face to stand upon when they emerge from the 
shells. From the time the eggs are placed in these 
hatching trays until the chickens peck the shells, 
the eggs should be turned twice a day by hand. 

Or, if preferred, the eggs may remain upon the 
rollers while the chickens come out of the shells. 
In this case the chicken drops between the rollers, 
and will be found under the egg tray, and on the 
bottom of the incubator. The only objections to 
this course are that the chicken may possibly be in- 
jured in passing between the rollers, and that the 
rollers and bottom of the incubator are made dirty 
by the membranes from the eggs and the droppings 
of the chickens. In such case the rollers should be 



MANAGEMENT. 6l 

cleaned before fresh eggs are put upon them ; and 
coarse paper should be placed on the bottom of 
the incubator to receive the foul matter, the paper 
being occasionally changed. 

When the shell of an egg is pecked, the pecked 
side should not be turned downward, for if this be 
done the chicken will sometimes be smothered by 
the moisture of the inner membrane of the egg. A 
pecked egg should be so turned that the pecked 
part is at the right or left side of the egg. When 
the chickens are hatching, the eggs should be far 
enough apart endwise, say at least three quarters 
of an inch, to allow the chickens to stretch them- 
selves out of the shells ; and the chickens should be 
left in the tray not less than six hours, or until their 
feathers become dry ; the egg shells being removed. 
The chickens may remain in the incubator twelve 
hours or even twenty-four hours without harm, and 
often with advantage, although sometimes one will 
make his way over the top of the tray, and will be 
found on the bottom of the incubator. 

Sometimes a chicken pecks the shell, but from 
some malformation, or lack of vigor, or from mis- 
placement of the head, is unable to peck a crevice 
sufficiently round the egg to enable the shell to part. 
Cases of this kind have never occurred with the 
author unless the parents were too closely related or 
too old. When they do occur, the chicken will die 
unless relief be afforded by opening the shell by 
hand. As, however, this operation must be per- 
formed with great delicacy, in order that the chick 
may not be wounded, great care must be exercised ; 
and even then the result will probably be unsuccess- 



62 MANAGEMENT. 

ful unless the operator is a practised hand. There 
are two ways of operating in such a case, one or the 
other of which may be preferable according to 
circumstances. If the chicken has already pecked 
the shell, the operator may crush the shell from the 
pecked opening around the egg in a ring, by means 
of his thumb nail, and he may then tear the mem- 
brane surrounding the chick. If the chick has not 
pecked the shell at the close of the twenty-second 
day, the shell may be opened, by means of a sharp- 
pointed implement, at about the distance from the 
large end at which the shell is usually pecked. The 
best implement .for the purpose is the point of a 
pen-knife or the point of the tang of a small file. 
The point of the instrument should be engaged in 
the hole of the shell to the least possible extent and 
be pryed outward so as to break out a minute piece 
of shell. By a succession of such operations, a ring 
crevice can be formed which, upon breaking the 
membrane, will permit the chicken to escape. 

Sometimes chickens are weak in the legs when 
first hatched, so that they cannot stand upright even 
at the end of five or six hours, but lay on their bel- 
lies with their legs sprawled out sidewise. This weak- 
ness generally arises from too close in-breeding, as we 
have never noticed it in chickens that are from parents 
which are not related, or are but distantly related. 
Such chickens generally die when hatched by a hen ; 
and when they are hatched by an incubator they 
will not generally be of any value if left without 
treatment. The trouble can be readily cured by 
connecting the legs loosely by means of a piece of 
soft cord or woollen yarn. The easiest way to 



MANAG1 63 

manage the matter is to let one person hold the 
chicken with its belly upward, while another does 
the tying. A separate piece of yarn is tied loosely 
around each leg, below the hock joint ; then the 
long ends of the two pieces are tied together, leav- 
ing the hock joints about three quarters of an inch 
apart. After the tying is completed, all the loose 
ends of the yarn should be cut off with a scissors to 
within a quarter of an inch of the knots. Chickens 
treated in this way are able to walk and get their 
food, and after a few days they become so strong 
that the yarns may be cut off. 

If ordinary care be exercised, a bad egg need 
never be broken in the incubator, because before 
such eggs burst, they either smell badly, or they 
exude beads of matter through the pores of the 
shell, or their shells split longitudinally without 
breaking the membrane within. Hence, if the eggs 
are looked at morning and evening, and the operator 
has a sensitive nose, an addled egg can generally be 
detected and removed. If, however, an egg should 
be broken, such eggs as have been spattered by the 
contents of the broken one should be at once 
washed in lukewarm water containing a few drops 
of carbolic acid. The egg tray should be opened 
sufficiently to hold a pan under the place where the 
egg broke, and water containing carbolic acid should 
be poured through the perforated bottom or upon 
the rollers of the drawer so as to cleanse them 
thoroughly. The bottom of the incubator also 
should be washed with water containing carbolic 
acid, a sponge being used for the purpose. 

If by reason of any accident the heat should rise 



64 MANAGEMENT. 

as high as 108 , all the drawers or trays should be 
taken out and set upon the floor until the heat falls 
to 90 or 95 , and should then be replaced. If the 
excessive heat has not lasted for too long a period, 
a heat considerably higher than 108 will not be 
fatal. Thus, in the course of the author's experi- 
ments with different arrangements of valve engines 
and thermostats, the heat on one occasion ran up to 
120 , and must have been in the vicinity of that 
temperature for nearly an hour ; yet not a single egg 
had its vitality destroyed, although the incubator 
contained eggs in all states of incubation ; the prob- 
able reasons being that the ample supply of moisture 
and fresh air enabled the germs to withstand the 
excessive heat for a short period without destruction 
of life ; and that as the contents of an egg are bad 
conductors of heat, the heat within the egg was 
materially lower than that of the incubating 
chamber. 

When the work of incubation is completed for the 
season, the fonts should be removed and the water 
should be withdrawn from the evaporating pans by 
means of a syphon, the short leg of which is inserted 
through the holes for the font nozzles. If water con- 
taining mineral salts be used for the water fonts, the 
incessant evaporation will produce a deposit in the 
evaporating pans, which would be very injurious. 
The only mode of removing this is to take off the 
top of the incubator so that the pans may be got at 
and cleansed. Any rough substance, such as an 
oyster shell, inserted in the evaporating pan will tend 
to induce the deposit of the salt upon it ; hence it 
is a good plan to keep an oyster shell in each evap- 



MANAGEMENT. 65 

orating pan if impure water be used. The better 
plan, however, is to use only clean rain water for 
filling the water fonts, as this is free from all mineral 
salts. 

The size of lamp burner which is used with the 
incubator depends upon the temperature of the room 
in which the incubator is used, and should be 
changed, if found expedient, as directed under the 
head of " Construction.' ' 

The milled regulating nuts previously described 
upon the upper end of the rod / for adjusting the 
operation of the thermostat, or the adjusting screw 
H, require occasional adjustment. If in the proc- 
ess of progressive adjustment it should be found 
necessary to screw the milled nuts very near to the 
upper end of the rod, it would be better to slightly 
screw up the adjusting screw H at the end of the 
incubator rather than to screw the milled nuts on 
the adjusting rod /too high. 

It is a remote possibility that the atmosphere of 
the incubator may not be sufficiently moist to enable 
the eggs to hatch properly. If, therefore, the heat 
has not been excessive, and fertile eggs should not 
hatch, it would be well to ascertain whether the 
trouble is due to want of moisture. This may be 
done by sprinkling the eggs in the drawers with 
warm water, after the eggs have been turned. If 
this water does not dry within half an hour after the 
drawer is closed, the fault is not want of moisture. 
If the water dries rapidly, the sprinkling may be 
continued once a day, or both morning and evening, 
without risk, and the result noted. If, thereafter, 
the eggs hatch better, the difficulty has been want 



66 



MANAGEMENT. 



of moisture. During hatching eggs will bear a great 
deal of moisture without injury ; thus the author 
has immersed eggs in water for three quarters of 
their length ; the eggs being sustained upright, 
with their large ends uppermost, in cellular water 
trays placed in the incubator, and being kept 
in the water until the nineteenth day, after which 
they were put in dry drawers ; and the eggs hatched. 
If, however, there be so much moisture in the at- 
mosphere of the incubator that it condenses upon 
the shells of the warm eggs and forms a film of 
water thereon, the pores of the egg shell will be 
closed and the germ or partially developed chick 
will be suffocated ; the death of the egg being 
generally followed by the longitudinal splitting of 
the shell from end to end. If, therefore, such split- 
ting of the shell takes place with an egg which has 
previously been proved to be fertile, and the incu- 
bator has not been overheated or has not been too 
cold, the presumption is that the moisture is in ex- 
cess in the incubator, and the sprinkling of the eggs 
should be reduced or discontinued. 

Every egg that has been adjudged to be fertile 
after being tested in an egg tester, and that does 
not subsequently hatch, should be removed on the 
twenty-second day and opened for the purpose of 
ascertaining whether its want of fertility escaped 
detection or the chick has died subsequently to ex- 
amination. As such eggs are sometimes offensive, 
the better way to open them is to drop them upon 
the ground at arms' length, so that they do not spat- 
ter the operator. 

The temperature of the incubator may be adjusted 



MANAGEMENT. 6j 

to suit the views of the operator, by means of the 
adjusting screw and the nuts of the rod /. Accord- 
ing to the author's experience fertile eggs will hatch 
with certainty when the highest temperature re- 
corded by the thermometer supplied with the 
incubator does not exceed 102 F., and the tempera- 
ture when the incubator is w r orking regularly does 
not run down regularly below 98 . The tempera- 
ture at the level of the tops of the eggs may, how- 
ever, run up to 106 , without material risk. If an 
examination of the thermometer shows that the 
temperature has exceeded 102 , it has been the 
author's practice to adjust the mechanism to open 
the valves sooner ; a maximum temperature of 103 
or 104 at the upper sides of the eggs being suffi- 
cient. 

The larger the number of eggs in the thermo- 
static incubator, the more regularly will it run as 
respects temperature ; and when it contains its full 
complement of eggs the temperature of the atmo- 
sphere within it, w r hen the drawers are closed, will not 
vary more than 4 as indicated by the thermometer. 
Under such circumstances the variation of the tem- 
perature of the interior of an egg must be very 
minute. As the presence of a large number of eggs 
in each drawer or tray tends to keep the tempera- 
ture more uniform, it is a good plan, when a tray is 
not at least half full of eggs, to put into it a quan- 
tity of porcelain eggs, and to remove them as the 
space is required for fresh eggs ; or to increase the 
number of porcelain eggs when fresh eggs are not 
supplied as fast as chickens are hatched, which is 
frequently the case toward the close of the hatching 



68 MANAGEMENT. 

season, when the incubator is employed to hatch 
chickens for family use. 

Whether the incubator operates successfully or its 
use ends in disappointment, it is expedient that a 
record of every proceeding, incident, and effect 
should be kept ; for by this means alone is one 
able to reconsider the work and to ascertain what 
was needed to have insured success. Every opera- 
tor will naturally have his own peculiar views as to 
the form of his journal. The author has found it 
convenient to use one divided by upright lines into 
columns in which are entered on the same horizontal 
line, the date ; the hour of observation ; the highest 
and lowest temperatures of each tray as indi- 
cated by a registering thermometer ; the temper- 
ature of the room in which the incubator is oper- 
ated ; the temperature of the vent pipe for foul 
air ; the number and kinds of eggs put in ; the 
number and kinds of eggs removed as unfertile ; 
and the number and kinds of chickens obtained. 
A note also is made of any unusual occurrence, 
such as the resetting of the regulator. 

In addition to the thermometers above mentioned, 
it is expedient to have one whose bulb is inclosed 
in a small tin cylinder of about the same capacity as 
an egg, the residue of the cylinder being filled with 
glycerine. The cylinder should be set in one of the 
drawers on a level with the eggs. The indications 
of such an enclosed thermometer afford a close ap- 
proximation of the internal temperature of the eggs. 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 

If proper means be provided, chickens hatched 
by an incubator can be raised with less expense and 
trouble, and with less loss, than chickens under the 
care of hens. This statement is not a speculation, 
but is the result of the author's experience, and of 
a comparison of seven years' hatching and raising 
by hens, with seven years' hatching by means of an 
incubator, and raising by means of brooders an aver- 
age of 250 chickens and 40 ducks annually, which is 
the number required in his family for the larder and 
for replacing the old stock. The requisites for rais- 
ing chickens artificially are warmth, ventilation, 
cleanliness, exercise, green food, and the separation 
of chickens of different sizes into classes, so that the 
younger or smaller are not trodden and maltreated 
by the larger. 

In order that the requisite warmth may be sup- 
plied, various contrivances called " artificial moth- 
ers" have been devised ; but this term is a misno- 
mer, as the most essential functions of the hen are 
not performed, while the name brooder is much more 
appropriate in view of the purposes for which the 
devices are employed. The ordinary artificial 
mothers consist of an inclined board having its 
under side lined with flannel or sheepskin, enclosed 
at the ends and at its lowest edge, and set upon a 
floor. These, however, will not answer if the 



Till- CHICKEN NURSERY. 

weather be cool. Artificial mothers are now fur- 
nished by manufacturers in which the inclined board 
is replaced by a water heater, through which a lamp 
flue is conducted ; and the heat is furnished by a 
kerosene lamp. The author found that such artifi- 
cial mothers were not sufficiently ventilated. Hence 
he devised a new kind of brooder in which the floor 
under the inclined board, or brood-cover, is of per- 
forated metal, and heat and ventilation are simul- 
taneously supplied by a slow current of air which is 
warmed by a lamp, and rises through the perforated 
floor. A primary brooder made on this plan is rep- 
resented at Figs. II, I J and 13; Fig. II being a 
side view of it ; Fig. 12 being a central longitudinal 
section of it ; and Fig. 13 being a top view with the 
brood-cover removed. The brood-chamber A of 
this brooder is enclosed between the brood-cover E 
and the floor G ; about half of the floor being of 
wire cloth or perforated tin supported upon a mov- 
able frame <?. Beneath the perforated floor is a hot- 
air chamber C, which is supplied with air from a 
lamp case D. beneath. The hot gases from the lamp 
chimney pass through a flue b in the hot-air cham- 
ber, and escape at the sides of the brooder. The 
flue is partially covered by a curved piece of tin 
plate m, to protect the lamp chamber beneath from 
dirt, and to distribute the hot air more equably. 
The lamp has a kerosene burner of the smallest 
and the wick must be kept down low. as very 
little heat is sufficient to raise the temperature under 
the brood-cover to 90^ F., which is as hot as it 
should be when the chickens are beneath it ; while 
if the temperature be kept too high, the chickens 



I HI. CHICKEN Nl 



7' 



A 

H 



B 




Fig. il 




y ,--,..^,-:--. ■,'■ —■„■..:',■.:.■ _ — — 







■//.//////a: ■■ ■ ■■:..;■ ' -^ 



Fig. i3- 



72 THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 

will sicken. The under side of the brood-cover 
should be lined with some soft material ; and those 
which the author has found best are two-ply ingrain 
carpet and blanket, either of which should be arrang- 
ed in flutes, and secured to the brood-cover by rows 
of carpet tacks. The brood-chamber A is connect- 
ed at its highest side with a small enclosed run B, 
open at the top, but provided with grooved slides 
for glass. The run should be partially covered with 
glass in cold weather, and in warm weather with a 
piece of wire net. During cold nights a cloth may 
be partially drawn over the brooder, but a portion of 
the top of the run must always be left open for ven- 
tilation. The opening between the brood-chamber 
and the run may have a piece of worsted fringe tack- 
ed along it ; this preserves the warmth in the brood- 
chamber, while permitting the passage of sufficient 
air for ventilation ; and it is surprising how quickly 
the chickens learn to run through the fringe. 

Chickens immediately after being hatched are 
thoroughly exhausted by the efforts required to dis- 
engage themselves from the egg shells. They 
therefore require heat and rest, which are given by 
permitting them to remain in the trays of the incu- 
bator until their feathers become dry, or certainly 
for six hours. They do not require any food, and 
will rarely take any, until the day after their birth. 
They may then be placed in the primary brooder and 
food given to them, water being supplied by a font 
H at the end of the run. Sometimes one chicken 
will eat immediately ; if this be the case, all difficulty 
is over, because the pecking of food by one will 
teach the others to feed. If no one of the first lot 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 73 

pecks the food, they must be taught to do so by 
crumbling the food before them and tapping the 
floor with the end of the finger nail. When one is 
taught, it acts as a schoolmaster for all the others ; 
and when chickens are hatched successively, a few 
of each old brood should successively be left in the 
primary brooder to teach the newly-hatched chicks 
both to feed and to run into the brood-chamber for 
warmth. The use of the brood-chamber has to be 
taught the first chickens by putting them under the 
brood-cover by hand ; but they speedily find how 
comfortable it is, and the first chickens teach all the 
others, on the principle of the well known game of 
" follow your leader." 

When the chickens become four or five weeks old, 
they should be removed to a secondary brooder, and 
subsequently to a third. The last two may be ar- 
ranged on a level with the floor of a small house, 
which forms enclosed runs ; a pit being made be- 
neath the brood-chambers for the lamp case. One 
kerosene lamp with a burner of small size is suffi- 
cient to heat two such brooders each four feet broad. 
If, however, the establishment be large enough to 
make it advisable to use a hot water or steam heat- 
ing apparatus, a hot-water pipe or a steam pipe may 
be passed through the air-chamber under the brood- 
er ; a few small holes being made in the bottom 
of the chamber under the pipe to admit fresh air. 
In such cases the lamp and its enclosure are super- 
seded, and there is then no necessity for making the 
pit deeper than is sufficient to hold the hot-air cham- 
ber. 

The chicken house or nursery, used by the au- 



74 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 



thor for raising about 250 chickens annually, is rep- 
resented in cross section at Fig. 14 and in plan at 
Fig. 15 ; and it is large enough for 400 chickens, pro- 
vided they be hatched in successive broods. It has 
a roof sloping to the south, and formed in two 
pitches h, i. The first pitch // is quite steep, and is 
formed alternately of hot-bed sashes six feet by three 
feet, and of solid panels six feet by three feet, made 
of boards battened at the seams. The second pitch 
i is nearly flat, and is formed alternately of scuttle 
doors and fixed board panels, each three feet wide. 
The scuttle doors are hung on hinges at one edge, 
so as to open upward, and they are fitted with green- 
house lifting irons (Fig. 16), so that the sashes maybe 



SECTION AT XX 
SCALER INCH TO I FT 







Pit 



Fig. 14.— Cross Section of Nursery. 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 75 

raised and held open for ventilation. The low side 
of this nursery does not exceed two and a half feet in 
height ; while the longitudinal plate on which the 
upper ends of the sashes are supported is only six 
feet high ; and the highest side wall is seven feet. 
These heights make the space under the roof high 
enough for any practical purpose, because the por- 
tion under the second pitch is high enough to permit 
an attendant to walk upright, and it is necessary to 





Fig. i 6.— Scuttle Door. 

pass beneath the lower pitch of the roof only when 
the house is cleansed or the brood-covers are remov- 
ed ; and then one naturally stoops to do the required 
work, so that a greater height is unnecessary. This 
nursery is divided into three sections A. B, C < Fig. 
15 ) of unequal sizes, the division being made by wire 
net partitions fitted with plain battened doors a, b. 
The rebates for the doors are made by nailing strips 
upon the posts. Each door is fitted with a cord, 



7 6 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 




Fig. 15. 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. JJ 

weight, and pulleys, so that it is self-closing. The 
wire net and the doors do not extend down to the 
floor, but terminate at cross bars m y about ten 
inches from the floor. Removable board shutters 
are applied to the spaces under these cross bars. 
The smallest section A is the secondary section, for 
chickens discharged from the primary brooder. 
The central section B is appropriated to the largest 
sized chickens that require a brooder ; and the largest 
section C is used for chickens large enough to perch, 
and is fitted with movable perches set fifteen inches 
above the floor. The brood-chambers F, F of the 
secondary and central sections are arranged back to 
back over a pit represented in dotted lines in the 
section. This pit is lined with rough hemlock 
boards nailed to studs, and it is entered by steps 
covered with a flat door K. The pit contains the 
hot-air chamber, and the lamp case beneath it, and 
access is had to the lamp by a door in the side of 
the lamp case. The double brooder is represented 
on a larger scale, and in section at Fig. 17. The hot- 
air chamber for this brooder is represented in plan 
at Fig. 18. The gases from the lamp chimney pass 
through a pipe vi which is bent in the form of a 
square ring, and the gases escape through a vent 
tube n. The hot-air chamber is covered with two 
frames a a, Fig. 17, on which perforated metal is 
tacked to form the perforated floors for the brood- 
chambers ; and the front of each brood-chamber may 
be enclosed by worsted fringe //. 

The under side of each brood-cover is lined with 
ingrain carpet tacked in flutes so as to form a series 
of inverted U-formed cells or channels, A A'. The 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 




Fig. i 8 —Brooders. 






THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 79 

floor of the nursery is formed of earth raised about 
an inch above the natural surface, well rammed and 
plastered about an inch thick with cement mortar ; 
the earth having been permitted to dry thoroughly 
before being plastered. The floor is covered with 
coal ashes, some of which is greedily eaten by the 
young chickens, and the same material is sprinkled 
over the floor of the primary brooder. This last is 
supported about breast-high upon a pair of rails 
nailed to the posts of the secondary section A, so 
that the establishment constitutes a complete nursery 
for chickens from the earliest age to adolescence. 

The secondary and central sections of the nursery 
communicate with yards (D and E) by means of flap 
doors (e and g), so that the chickens can be allowed 
to run out in fair weather. The fences of the yards 
are made of hemlock boards for two feet in height, 
the edges of the bottom boards being sunk a little 
in the earth so as to prevent the escape of chickens ; 
while the rest of the fence is made of small meshed 
wire net. 

As the chickens grow, they are transferred from 
the primary brooder to the secondary section A : 
thence to the central section B ; and from it to the 
finishing section C, which communicates by a hole 
under the front door d, with a large grass run of 
two acres. About once a day a few spadefuls of 
the soil of each yard are dug up to furnish fresh earth 
for the young chicks to scratch in. 

The whole nursery is made of common ten-inch 
boards, machine planed, and nailed to posts planted 
in the ground. The lower ends of the posts up to 
six inches above the ground were given two coats of 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 



coal tar dissolved in crude petroleum, and applied 
with a brush while hot. This preparation strikes 
into the wood rapidly, dries at the surface, and 
renders the wood proof against rot for many years. 
The seams between the boards of the roof are bat- 
tened and the walls are lined with tarred felt. The 
space over the large double brooder is enclosed with 
removable frames covered with wire net to keep the 
chickens from the top of the brood-covers. Each 
brood-cover is fitted with a common iron trunk 
handle, so that it can be readily lifted and removed 
to enable the perforated floor to be cleansed. 

This nursery was made long and narrow because 
it was convenient to build it along a division fence, 
the posts of which were incorporated in the back 
wall of the building. If space could be conveniently 
obtained, it would be better to make the building 
of double the width and about half the length ; say 
21 feet long by 1 6 feet broad ; and to give the roof 
a double pitch in opposite directions from the 
central line. The ground plan and perspective view 
of a nursery of this description are given at Figs. 19 
and 20. The two brood sections A, B, occupy half 
of the building at one side of a central longitudinal 
partition, and the finishing section C occupies the 
other half. The doors a, b, of the first two sections 
open into the finishing section C, which forms the 
passage to them. The door k to the pit of the 
double brooder is an upright door in the main parti- 
tion. The yard D for the secondary section may be 
at one side of the building ; and the yard E, for the 
other brood section, may be at the rear end. The 
front door may be at d. If wire net cannot be ob- 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 



81 




Fig. 19. —Plan of Nursery. 



82 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 



tained for the partitions, or is deemed too costly, 
seine net, such as is used by fishermen and is made 
by machinery at a low cost, may be employed. Or, 
laths three quarters of an inch broad by half an inch 
thick may be employed. These can be procured 
from any manufacturing builder who has a small cir- 
cular sawmill ; and if they are not dressed smooth 
at the edges, partitions made of them cost consider- 
ably less than when made of wire net. 

The materials required for the double pitch nurs- 
ery are as follows : 

8 posts, each 9 feet 6 inches long. 

10 posts, each 8 feet 6 inches long. 

16 posts, each 5 feet long. 

10 joists, 2X4X13 feet for plates on posts. 

8 joists, 2 X 4 X 13 feet for rafters of first pitch. 

3 joists, 2 X 4 X 13 feet for partitions. 

66 pieces of novelty siding, 5 inches wide by 13 
feet long. 

38 boards, 10 inches wide by 13 feet long (faced 
on one side) for the roof and the scuttle doors. 

7 boards for internal doors. 

7 hemlock boards 16 feet long for pit. 

450 running feet of batten moulding for roof. 

150 square feet of net, or 75 laths | X i X 13 feet. 

12 pairs of butt hinges, 3X3. 

2 barrels of cement for floor. 

The posts may be made of 2 X 4 joists, in which 
case there will be required 18 of 2 X 4 X 15 feet 
long for that purpose. 

Instead of having a single yard for each of the first 
two sections of the nursery, it is better to have two 
yards for the secondary section A, and two for the 



THE CHICKEN NUKSERY. 



83 






3 



% 

X 

n 

< 

-r 

i 
















84 THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 

central section B. The chickens can then be allow- 
ed access to each yard in alternate succession, say 
two weeks to each. This plan is advantageous, 
because it obviates the danger of the yards becom- 
ing foul from excessive use. It is also advantageous 
to have a few bushes in the yards for shade in hot 
weather, one of the best plants for this purpose 
being the common sumach. 

The yard for the secondary section should contain 
not less than 600 square feet of surface ; being, say 
21 feet wide by 28 to 30 feet long ; or two yards 
each of half this size may be used. The yard for 
the central section should be double the size of that 
for the secondary section. If the yards are too small, 
they become foul before the close of the hatching 
season, and the later chickens droop. If this should 
occur, either fresh ground must be provided, or the 
ground of the yards must be spaded over immediate- 
ly, so as to bury all foul matter and thus disinfect 
the yards. In such case, how r ever, the chickens 
must be supplied twice a day with fresh green food, 
and all that is not consumed must be either dug 
under or removed. x\s soon as the youngest 
chickens can be turned out of the yards, it is a good 
plan to spade over the whole ground, and to sow it 
at once with grass seed. The first rains cause this 
to sprout, and thus a fine plot of fresh grass is pro- 
vided for the next year. 

With a low-priced classifying nursery, such as 
either of those above described, there is no difficulty 
in raising chickens, if proper food be given them and 
the place be kept clean. If they are hatched too 
early for grass, lettuce should be raised under cold 






THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 85 

frames to supply them with green food ; because, 
although they will get along very well for three or 
four weeks without green food, yet as they grow it 
becomes a necessity ; and if it be not provided, they 
get a species of cholera infantum and die off. If 
proper food be supplied and ordinary care be taken, 
much fewer casualties occur than with chickens 
brought up by hens, and the labor of taking care of 
the same number is much less. Young chickens 
must have some animal food, and nothing is better 
for the purpose than the unfertile eggs taken from 
the incubator. These should be boiled hard at 
once, so that they will keep until wanted, when they 
should be chopped fine and mixed with Indian meal 
or oat grits slightly moistened so as to be crumbly. 

A common coffee-mill should be screwed fast to 
one of the posts of the nursery for the purpose of 
cracking refuse wheat, so that a pan of coarsely 
cracked wheat may be continually kept within reach 
of the first two classes of young chickens. The 
quantity they will consume of it, even when other 
food is furnished in abundance, is surprising, and 
it appears to have a favorable effect upon their 
digestive organs. The chickens after leaving the 
primary brooder may be fed with what is commonly 
called "feed" mixed stiff with a little water, and 
containing a little bone meal ; or with a mixture of 
equal parts of corn meal and wheat bran, mixed in 
the same manner, care being taken to feed no more 
at any one time than they will eat up clean before 
the next feed is given. They should also have free 
access (as they grow larger) to cracked or whole 
light wheat in a feed hopper, or to a mixture of 



86 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. 



wheat and cracked corn. Occasionally a small quan- 
tity of animal food finely chopped should be given 
them, and a supply of clean water must be provided. 
To raise chickens artificially with success there is 
one condition that is indispensable, and that is clean- 
liness ; for however much care be taken to supply 
proper food and warmth, young chickens will sicken 
and die unless their quarters be well ventilated and 
be kept clean. The ventilating brooder invented by 
the author supplies fresh warm air continually to 
the chickens under the brood-cover. The perforat- 
ed floors of the brood-chambers should be brushed 
off daily with a whisk, and it is expedient to remove 
the brood-covers every morning for this purpose, 
and also because it is possible that a chicken may be 
trodden to death during the night ; although such a 
casualty rarely happens unless the chicken be sick. 
The daily cleansing of the brood-chambers is impor- 
tant, as it is bad enough for chickens to remain all 
night in the effluvia of their fresh droppings ; and 
the sanitary conditions may be imagined when the 
droppings are permitted to accumulate for several 
days in the moist warm air under a brood-cover. 
Occasionally the linings of the brooders should be 
sprinkled with carbolic soapsuds or with a weak so- 
lution of carbolic acid in water, and the perforated 
floor should be taken up and scraped, and* then 
washed with the same material. After such sprink- 
ling, the brood-cover should be exposed to the sun 
or be well aired, so that it may be dry before it is 
put in place. While the drying is being effected, 
the chickens should be kept from the brood-chamber 
by a piece of board. The floors of the run of the 



THE CHICKEN NURSERY. $? 

primary brooder and of the nursery should be cov- 
ered with either fine coal ashes, or dry earth, the 
former being preferable, and fresh material being 
occasionally added ; ashes which have been sifted 
through a stone mason's sand screen, or a wire cloth 
sieve of a quarter of an inch mesh, are quite fine 
enough, as the small fragments are an advantage, 
they being cracked and eaten by the young chickens. 
The floors of the primary brooder and of the nurs- 
ery should be raked over frequently with a fine- 
toothed rake, and the droppings and foul ashes re- 
moved. A good instrument for such raking may be 
made by driving a row of two-inch wire nails half an 
inch apart and half an inch deep into a strip of 
wood, clipping off the heads of the nails evenly with 
a cutting pliers, and fitting a small handle to the 
rake head so made. If lettuce or other cut. green 
food be used, the wilted stalks and remnants should 
be regularly removed, as they tend to produce sick- 
ness. All stale mixed food should be removed for 
the same reason before fresh food is supplied. If a 
chicken be sick, it should be removed from the others 
at once and kept in warm quarters until well. With 
ordinary care, cleanliness, and a supply of proper 
food, sickness will rarely occur ; but it is a good 
plan to have a spare primary brooder on hand, so 
that if a chicken does sicken, it may be transferred 
to it and kept warm until well. 

A good chicken nursery is essential to the raising 
of chickens artificially ; and unless one be provided, 
it is practically useless to make the attempt, how- 
ever costly an incubator be procured. 



THE HATCHING SEASON. 

The thermostatic incubator furnishes the means 
of hatching chickens throughout the year, but there 
are certain peculiarities of the seasons in our North- 
ern and Midlde States which do not render this 
course generally expedient. In order that young 
chickens may thrive, they must have warmth, 
plenty of exercise in the air, and green food. 
Plenty of exercise necessarily implies a large run, 
and such a run can be obtained in cold weather 
only by covering a large surface with glass. Per- 
sons who have cold graperies may use them with 
great advantage as runs for early chickens ; but 
those who do not possess such luxuries, and cannot 
afford the cost of a suitable building for an enclosed 
run of several hundred square feet, must content 
themselves with hatching chickens at seasons when 
those which are a month old can run out of doors 
without risk. On the other hand, the excessive 
heat of July and August is not favorable to the 
bringing up of very young chickens, and besides, 
the season is then so far advanced that unless the 
chickens are wanted for late broilers, they are not 
sufficiently advanced by the time winter sets in. 
Under these circumstances it is generally inexpedi- 
ent in the Eastern, Northern, Middle, and Western 
States to start the incubator before the 1st of Feb- 
ruary, or to continue its use much after the 1st of 



! 



THE HATCH I XG SEASON. 89 

July. If started in February the season is generally 

sufficiently advanced to permit the chickens to run 
out in enclosed yards for several hours daily by the 
time they are old enough to be transferred from the 
primary brooder to the floor of the nursery. The 
enclosure of the yards with boards for a height of 
two feet, makes a shelter against cold winds, so that 
the chickens do not suffer as they would do without 
this protection ; but, even with this advantage, the 
chickens at first should not be allowed to run out 
except in fine weather, and should be called in long 
before sunset. If young chickens be called or whis- 
tled to whenever they are fed, they speedily learn 
what the sound means, and can be called in at any 
time by the same sound. They should be called 
and fed on damp food at least three times a day, 
and should have green food and crushed grain to 
peck at between feeds. With such treatment and 
cleanliness they will grow rapidly and will outstrip 
in size and vigor chickens raised by hens with the 
ordinary treatment. 

There is another consideration which renders it 
inexpedient to commence the incubation of eggs in 
this latitude too early in the season. The eggs 
which are laid in the winter are laid almost exclu- 
sively by pullets of the preceding spring, and these 
are frequently unfertile. Thus, in February the 
author has frequently found three quarters of the 
eggs laid by pullets to be unfertile. As the season 
progresses, the proportion of fertile eggs increases, 
until in April nine tenths of the eggs will be fertile. 
Sometimes, however, cocks and hens show strange 
vagaries in mating, particularly when a single cock 



go THE HATCHING SEASON. 



is kept with several hens, the cock mating wi 
some one or more hens, and refusing to mate with 
others, unless the favored hens be removed tempo- 
rarily. Thus, in one instance noticed by the author, 
a cock was placed with seven pullets. The eggs of 
only two of these proved to be fertile. These two 
were removed, whereupon the cock mated with the 
remaining five, and their eggs all became fertile. In 
another case, three Houdan pullets hatched from a 
sitting of eggs procured from a noted breeder were 
placed in December with a Houdan cock one year 
older than the pullets, and four Brahma hens were 
also given him. In due season the pullets began to 
lay, but not one of the eggs proved to be fertile. 
After several weeks the Brahma hens were taken 
away. It was then noticed that the eggs of but one 
of the pullets became fertile, and she had to be 
taken away temporarily before the cock would mate 
with the other two. This caprice or vagary in mat- 
ing probably explains the fact that eggs purchased 
in the spring of the year from the most respectable 
breeders are frequently unfertile, particularly if the 
females of the breeding pen consist partially or 
wholly of pullets. Thus, on one occasion the author 
purchased a sitting of eggs from a noted breeder, 
and only four of the eggs proved to be fertile, the res- 
idue remaining clear, although placed in the incuba- 
tor side by side with the others. In another case 
eight fresh ducks' eggs given to the author by a 
friend proved wholly unfertile, while the eggs of 
ducks kept by the author and put into the incubator 
at the same date and side by side with the others all 
proved fertile. The above facts are important as 



th 



THE HATCHING SEASON. 91 

showing that the failure to hatch eggs is not. neces- 
sarily the fault of the incubator, but is frequently 
due to other causes. In fact, when the eggs are put 
under hens, it is a very common circumstance to hear 
complaints to the effect that the eggs hatch badly, 
or that the owners have bad luck, particularly when 
the hens are set early in the spring. 

If the breeding stock is kept in flocks containing 
several cocks, the absence of fertility is not so apt 
to occur, because the weaker cocks will mate with 
hens or pullets that are not appropriated by the 
stronger cocks. 



APPENDIX. 



Claims of United States patents granted to 
E. S. Renwick. 

Patent No. 193,616, dated July 31st, 1877. 
Improvements in incubators. 

1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holders, the heat-flue, and 
the waste-heat chimney. 

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the heat-flue, the 
waste-heat chimney, and the chimney-valve. 

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, and the air-pipe ar- 
ranged to supply air into the upper part of the incubating- 
chamber. 

4 The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the holder, and the ventilating- 
chimney arranged to discharge the air from the lower part 
of the incubating-chamber. 

5. The combination, substantially as before set torth, of the 
incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the ventilating-chimnev 
arranged to discharge air from the lower part of said cham- 
ber, and the ventilating-valve which regulates such discharge. 

6. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the ventilating-chim- 
ney arranged to discharge air from the lower part of said 
chamber, and the air-supply pipe arranged to supply air to 
the upper part of said chamber. 



94 APPENDIX. 

7. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, and the water-tray ar 
ranged in the upper part of said incubating-chamber, whereby 
moisture is supplied above the level of the egg-holder. 

8. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the water-tray ar- 
ranged in the upper part of the incubating-chamber, and the 
under water-tray. 

9. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the ventilating-chim- 
ney, and the thermostatic chamber, whereby the air escaping 
from the incubating-chamber is caused to pass through the 
thermostatic chamber. 

10. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, two egg-holders, the thermostatic 
chamber arranged between the said two egg-holders, and the 
ventilating-chimney communicating with said thermostatic 
chamber. 

11. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, and two indepen- 
dent heaters having their ends which receive heat arranged 
at the opposite ends of the incubating-chamber 

12. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the water-tray, and 
the drain-pipe, whereby surplus water is conducted from the 
incubating-chamber. 

Patent No. 210,559, dated December 3d, 1878. 
Regulating mechanism for incubators, etc. 

1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
two thermostatic bars by means of a connecting lever, which 
has its fulcrum carried by one of said bars and its arm con- 
nected with the other of said bars. 

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a 
thermostatic bar arranged horizontally, with a counterpoise- 
weight. 

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 



APPENDIX. 95 

the engine-shaft, detent-motor, and engine-detent, where by 
the detent-motor is wound up by the engine. 

4. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
engine, engine-detent, detent-motor, and regulator-detent. 

5. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
engine, liquid speed-controller, and engine-detent. 

6. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a 
thermostatic bar, regulator-detent, detent-motor, engine-de- 
tent, and engine. 

7. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the engine, liquid speed-controller, engine-detent, detent- 
motor, and regulator-detent. 

8. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
regulator-detent, ^detent-motor, engine-detent, engine, and 
valve. 

9. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a 
thermostatic bar, regulator-detent, detent-motor, engine- 
detent, engine, and valve. 

10. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the detent and the shifting weight. 

11. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the thermostat and the shifting weight. 

Patent No. 215,070, dated May 6th, 1879. 
Improvements in chicken brooders. 

1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the brooding-chamber, the brood-cover, and the perforated 
floor for the brooding-chamber. 

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the brooding-chamber, the brood-cover, the perforated floor 
for the brooding-chamber, and the hot-air chamber beneath 
the said floor. 

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
brooding-chamber, the brood-cover, the perforated floor of 
the brooding-chamber, and the run communicating with the 
said brood-chamber. 

4. The combination, substantial! v as before set forth, of 



96 APPENDIX. 

the brooding-chamber, the brood-cover, the perforated floor 
of the brooding-chamber, the hot-air chamber, and the fur- 
nace. 

Patent No. 217,148, dated July 1st, 1879. 
Improvements in incubators. 

1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the air-supply pipe, 
and the heat-flue arranged within the air-supply pipe. 

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, and the heat-flue con- 
structed to ascend to the upper part of the incubating-cham- 
ber and to spread therein laterally in the vicinity of the exit- 
tube, whereby the heat is more thoroughly distributed. 

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the heat-flue ascending 
in the incubating-chamber, and the water-tray applied to 
said heat-flue. 

4. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the egg-holder, the heat-flue, the 
water-tray applied to said heat-flue, and the waste-heat chim- 
ney passed through said water-tray. 

5. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
incubating chamber, the egg-holder, the water-tray within 
the incubating chamber, the basin at the exterior of the cham- 
ber, and the water-fount. 

Patent No. 224,224, dated February 3d, 1880. 
Improvements in incubators. 

1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
egg-holder of an incubator with supporting-rollers connected 
with the egg-holder by pivots, and with each other by con- 
necting devices which cause them to revolve in the same 
direction. 

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
egg-holder of the incubator, the eg^-snpporting rollers, and 






APPENDIX. 97 

the elastic bands which connect said rollers together and 
cause them to revolve in the same direction with equal sur- 
face speed. 

Patent No. 281,397, dated July 17th, 1883. 
Improvements in thermostats for incubators. 

- 1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
straight expansile strip of the thermostat, the lever and 
weight arranged to act upon one end thereof, and the adjust- 
ing lever and screw at the opposite end thereof. 

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
expansile strip of the thermostat and the frame thereof with 
a weight by which the said strip is subjected to a strong ten- 
sile strain. 

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
thermostat, the detent moved thereby, the revolving shaft 
carrying the detent-arms, the paddle-arms also carried by 
said shaft, the trough through which said paddle-arms move, 
and the engine-frame holding the said detent-shaft, detent- 
arms, paddle-arms, and trough, in their proper relative posi- 
tions. 

4. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
walls of the incubator, the expansile strip of the thermostat 
enclosed therein, the weight operating upon one end of said 
strip to subject it to a tensile strain, and the adjusting screw 
which operates upon the other end of said strip and extends 
through the adjacent wall of the incubator. 

Patent No. 281,398, dated July 17th, 1883. 
Improvements in incubators. 

1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
incubating-chamber, with two lamps, both arranged at the 
same end of said chamber and separated laterally for the pur- 
pose described. 

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of 
the incubating-chamber, the heat-flue, the ventilating-chim- 



98 APPENDIX. 

ney, and the vent-pipe for the heat-flue arranged to deliver 
into the ventilating-chimney. 

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
egg-holder, the series of rollers thereof, and the turning device 
arranged within the walls of the egg-holder which enclose 
said rollers. 

4. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
incubating-chamber, the egg-holder thereof, the heat-flue ar- 
ranged in the upper part of the incubating-chamber above the 
egg-holder, and the heat distributor arranged below the heat- 
flue between it and the egg-holder. 

5. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the 
egg- holders arranged back to back with a space between 
them, and the thermostat arranged between said egg-holders. 



PRICE-LIST OF INCUBATORS, Etc. 



Incubator complete; capacity, 
160 Eggs, .... $75.00 

Registering Thermometer, extra, 8.00 

Primary Brooder, complete, 2x4 
feet, ------ 15.00 

Secondary Brooder, with two 
brood chambers, 4 feet broad, 
ready for floor of Nursery, - 15.00 

TERMS.— Cash (without discount) on de- 
livery in New York. 



THE THERMOSTATIC INCUBATOR, 

A Hand-book of Artificial Incubation. 

Paper covers, 36 cts. ; cloth, 56 cts. 

By mail on receipt of post-office order or postal stamps (2c. each). 



E. S. RENWICK, 

19 Park Place, New York, N. Y. 






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